One of the several projects that Antoine Fuqua has been circling over the past couple of years is Southpaw, a boxing drama set up at DreamWorks that would bring Eminem back to acting, almost a decade after his debut in 8 Mile. Written by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, the story is centers on a “lefty welterweight whose life is buffeted by tragedy even as he’s fought his way to a title,” with the writer claiming that certain parts of the character’s life echo that of its potential star.

Deadline now tells us that DreamWorks has just left the project, but, as is the case with many things of this sort, a reason for the move hasn’t been disclosed. One point of speculation is the recent crowd of similar films, with last year’s The Fighter and this year’s Warrior both telling of struggles faced by professional fighters. Another idea is that the failure of Cowboys & Aliens made them a little cautious about certain projects, but I don’t buy that; there isn’t much of a connection between the two movies. No matter why it was thrown out, this is a fairly commercial endeavor with a director and actor attached, making it very possible that the movie will be picked up by another studio rather soon; those behind the picture are already trying to sell it to someone else.

I don’t know if I was all too excited about the prospects of seeing it get made, but even if I was, the factors mentioned above lead me to think that the movie isn’t in any great danger. What I’m wondering, more than anything, is if this will be Fuqua‘s next project — all of the things he’s getting involved with means that he should be a busy man. If Southpaw ends up getting acquired by someone else soon, I would expect for us to see him behind this next.

Do you want to see Southpaw, and does this news make you a little worried?