Protagonist Pictures and Benedict Cumberbatch are getting ready to bump fists and come out swinging as the Oscar-nominated actor has just signed on to star in the father/son boxing drama GYPSY BOY.
Based on Mikey Walsh’s best-selling memoirs, Morgan Matthews (A BRILLIANT YOUNG MIND) will direct Cumberbatch as he plays Frank, Mikey's father. When young Mikey Walsh is born, his father places a pair of golden gloves on a chain around his neck in the hope that his son will maintain the family’s reputation. But even as an infant, Frank notices there is something different in Mikey, which leads to frustration and anger building over time. As he grows into his teens, Mikey is forced to make an agonizing decision – to stay and keep fighting, and face the shame head on, or escape, never to come back…
Brought up to be a bare-knuckle fighter in the Romany Gypsy community, Walsh was forced to leave his family and culture in 1996 on account of him being gay. As a chronic sufferer of social anxiety disorder, Mikey has transformed himself throughout the years, and has become a prominent activist in the LGBT community as well an an accomplished British columnist.
“I was immediately drawn to Mikey’s courageous and heart-breaking story. And his father Frank is unlike any character I’ve played before,” Cumberbatch had said when talking about his upcoming role. “He’s a complex man torn between tradition and his love for a son struggling to come to terms with an identity that’s completely at odds with Frank and his culture.” As of the moment, producers are on the hunt for a young actor to step into the role of Mikey. Production on the film will begin next Summer with Protagonist Pictures handling worldwide distribution.
Soon, you'll be able to catch Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange when THOR: RAGNAROK hits theaters on November 3rd.
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