Thanks To MGM, Eminem’s Boxing Drama SOUTHPAW Gets To Jab

A few months ago, for some unclear reasons, DreamWorks just decided not to house the Antoine Fuqua-directed boxing drama SOUTHPAW, starring Eminem, anymore. That kinda pissed me off a bit because I’m a huge fan of Eminem’s music, I think the dude is one of the greatest lyricists ever and I think he’s a fantastic actor, one of the few rappers who could actually act, and he deserves more gigs.
But thanks to the newly restructured MGM, the project’s still got pulse..

Hollywood Reporter said MGM now houses SOUTHPAW which will be distributed through Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Production is expected to start early next year
Scripted by Eminem and Sons Of Anarchy creator/exec producer Kurt Sutter. Eminem would play a fast rising left-handed welterweight boxer who reaches the title, only to see his world crash down around him due to tragedy and then he’d have to make a comeback in his life and in the ring.

Here’s how scribe Sutter describes it..

“In a way, this is a continuation of the 8 Mile story, but rather than a literal biography, we are doing a metaphorical narrative of the second chapter of his life,”
“He’ll play a world champion boxer who really hits a hard bottom, and has to fight to win back his life for his young daughter. At its core, this is a retelling of his struggles over the last five years of his life, using the boxing analogy. I love that the title refers to [Eminem] being a lefty, which is to boxing what a white rapper is to hip hop; dangerous, unwanted and completely unorthodox. It’s a much harder road for a southpaw than a right-handed boxer.”