After becoming attached to the project nearly two years ago, Antoine Fuqua‘s boxing drama Southpaw finally got some new life last week as The Weinstein Company acquired the former MGM/Sony film with hopes to start production this year. Once formed as a starring vehicle and a return of sorts for Eminem, his involvement has been up in the air, but now some new, prominent names have been added to the batch of possible leads.
Speaking with Shadow & Act during his press tour for the upcoming actioner Olympus Has Fallen, Fuqua revealed that the goal is to make this one his next project and that he’s already spoken to a few actors, including Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner. The Training Day director also revealed that he’s considering Cooper’s Place Beyond the Pines star Ryan Gosling, an actor who he’d be “thrilled to work with.”
With this is still in the early stages, he also said not to count out Eminem, who is still “a part of it,” but perhaps not in a leading role. Coming from a screenplay by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, the film follows a lefthanded prizefighter who wins a title but then suffers a tragedy and must put the pieces together to earn the respect of his young daughter. With all the aforementioned actors having busy schedules, I’d be surprised if any of them come aboard, but hopefully we’ll know who will get into the ring soon.
Would you like to see any of the above actors star in the boxing drama?