Jake Gyllenhaal and Antoine Fuqua Confirmed for Boxing Drama 'Southpaw'

Ding ding ding! The opening bell has finally rung on long-developing boxing drama, Southpaw. Its complicated history has been well-documented here, but it began as the brainchild of Kurt Sutter (Sons of Anarchy), with rapper Eminem set for the lead role and Antoine Fuqua directing. For various reasons Fuqua and Eminem dropped out, the project changed hands and ended up with Weinstein. Fuqua resurfaced last year when Jake Gyllenhaal suddenly became attached, and now the project is ready to get rolling.

Deadline reports Southpaw will begin shooting this summer, with confirmations on Fuqua and Gyllenhaal. The story is your basic hard-luck hometown boy makes good tale, centering on a lefty welterweight who climbs the championship ranks while his personal life is in turmoil and he tries to win back the love of his daughter. You can see why Eminem was targeted for this one as it has an 8 Mile sort of feel to it, but Gyllenhaal should be able to fill the role just fine. As the above Prince of Persia image shows, he knows how to throw a good punch.

The search is on for someone to take the other lead, that of Titus "Tick" Willis, a former boxer forced to retire after losing an eye, and quit as a pro trainer when his son was killed. Heavy stuff.