Perhaps spurred on by the success of The Fighter and the recent robotic brawler, Real Steel, a thought dead boxing drama has been given a much needed dose of smelling salts. After Dreamworks dumped Eminem's boxing flick, Southpaw, it's now been picked up by MGM, with Sony handling the film's distribution.
Antoine Fuqua has long been attached to direct, although it remains to be seen if that will still be the case considering the huge slate of projects on his schedule. He's just about to kick off filming of the action flick, Hunter Killer, so if he does stay aboard it'll have to wait until that's finished.
Southpaw is based on a script by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, and follows a similar tract as Eminem's breakout performance in 8 Mile. He'll play a left-handed welterweight fighter who deals with all sorts of personal struggles on his way to fighting for the championship. Yeah, it doesn't sound like too much of a stretch for ol' Slim Shady, but honestly I think he can be a real force in front of the camera if he sticks with it. Count this as a film I'll definitely be keeping an eye on.
