The past year has seen the boxing movie get a little bit of a resurgence. Of course, there was David O. Russell‘s “The Fighter,” which jumped late into the Oscar race last year and went on to nab statutes for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, and for the past two weeks, Hugh Jackman‘s robot boxing flick “Real Steel” has stayed stead on top of the box office. Now, fresh-out-of-bankruptcy MGM are looking to get going on a project that does not have a hobbit or James Bond in it, picking up the rights to “Southpaw,” which will have Sony distributing the film.
Previously housed at DreamWorks, who let it go over the summer, “Southpaw,” written by “Sons Of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter, has Eminem set to star with Antoine Fuqua directing. It’s basically an “8 Mile” redux but with boxing instead of rapping. “Southpaw” chronicles the rise of a lefty welterweight all the way to championship title as he battles various tragedies in his personal life, and wins back the love of his daughter. The tragedies in the film are said to be similar to that of Slim Shady’s own struggles. We’re pretty sure we saw this movie already.
No word on when it might roll, but probably not until next year at the earliest since Fuqua is gearing up “Hunter Killer” over at Relativity right now. But if you’ve been waiting for Eminem to make a return to the big screen and that “Funny People” cameo wasn’t enough, not to worry, as Slim is planning to return.
