Billi Bob enters the boxing ring

Posted on August 25, 2009
Filed Under Actors, Adaptation, Directors

The friendly guys and girls over at The Hollywood Reporter recently had a little piece about Billy Bob Thornton’s next project and I figured that ya’ all would be interested. No? Haha… Tough! Anyway, apparently he is attached to star in “Pound for Pound,” a boxing drama based on a novel from F.X. Toole, the author of the book that became “Million Dollar Baby” (2004). It’s a sure thing – at least if you are studio exec. in Hollywood. If one adaptation is a success then all the other books must end up in at least two or three Academy nominations. Mmm…

The project centers on the parallel lives of a retired and widowed boxer beset by depression after his grandson is killed in a car accident and an up-and-coming teenage Latino fighter from a difficult background. The lives of the two intersect in unexpected ways. Thornton will play the retired boxer, while producers are out to cast on the younger role. The project aims to shoot in the first quarter of 2010.

Producers say that despite the dark undertones, there remains an optimistic note to the pic. “Unlike ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ which was fabulous but a dark movie and a tragic story, this is a dark story but with a life-affirming, hopeful ending.”

Toole, the pen name for the late boxing cutman Jerry Boyd, gained fame two years after he died when the stories in his collection “Rope Burns,” became the basis for the Clint Eastwood-Paul Haggis drama “Million Dollar Baby.” The movie earned $207 million worldwide and was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, including best picture.

Well, casting Billy Bob is not a bad move. He’s a fine actor and I’m sure he will bring the leverage needed to make this a entertaining film. Personally I believe “the market” to be more or less flooded when it comes to boxing films. It’s all been said and done. Talking about boxing – I watched “Fighting” the other day and that was 90 minutes wasted on what could have been a fine film. Terrence Howard is a fantastic actor but unfortunately he was all alone in this one. Bad script, bad acting and so predictable story… Stay away!

Comments