Jeremy Renner has proven to be pretty good with weapons as Hawkeye in The Avengers movies and in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, but how could is he with just his fists? We're soon to find out as he's set to play the great boxing champion Rocky Marciano.
Renner will lace up the gloves for Undefeated: The Rocky Marciano Story, a biopic centering on boxing's only undefeated heavyweight champion. When Marciano retired in 1956 his record was 49-0. He would die in a plane crash 13 years later without having made any kind of comeback, itself a rarity in the world of boxing. The Brockton, Massachusetts native was known for his relentless style that was the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa. The fighter's knockout punch was tested once and found to pack more impact power than an armor piercing bullet.
The screenplay for the film is being written by Samuel Franco and Evan Kilgore, but a director has yet to be found. Following on the heels of Southpaw and the excellent, possibly Oscar-nominated Creed, this is good time for films on the sweet science. [THR]
