Detroit MC set to return to the big screen in film written by 'Sons of Anarchy' creator.
By Kara Warner
Eminem
Photo: Getty Images
Nearly nine years after making his big-screen debut in "8 Mile," Eminem has lined up another film project.
According to Deadline, DreamWorks has picked up "Southpaw," a drama in which Eminem will play a "fast-rising welterweight boxer who brawls his way to the title, only to see his world crash down around him due to tragedy."
"Sons of Anarchy" creator/executive producer Kurt Sutter will write the script. Sutter explained that the project is several years in the making, borne from meetings with Eminem and his team, and hearing the rapper open up about his real-life struggles on his recent albums.
"I took meetings with Marshall's producing partners over the past seven years, looking for something to do together," Sutter told Deadline. "I know he's very selective and doesn't do a lot. But he shared so much of his personal struggle in this raw and very honest album [Recovery], one that I connected with on a lot of levels. He is very interested in the boxing genre, and it seemed like an apt metaphor, because his own life has been a brawl."
Sutter said the film will be a kind of continuation of "8 Mile," which garnered Em both critical acclaim and a Best Song Oscar for "Lose Yourself."
"We are doing a metaphorical narrative of the second chapter of his life," he said. "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 Marshall being a lefty," Sutter continued, "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."
Sutter is set to begin writing immediately and will reportedly turn in a draft in February. No word on a possible release date or when production may begin.
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