MMA has been steadily catching up to boxing in terms of combat sport films. While there are plenty of action films that utilize the practice, boxing has been able to capitalize on more character dramas, especially since Rocky hit the scene (no pun intended). While there have been movies like Warrior and Bruised that have showcased mixed martial arts in dramatic films, the popular UFC brand has been geared more towards popcorn movies like Here Comes the Boom and the upcoming Road House remake. The producers of Hereditary are now set to make a UFC-based drama where two MMA fighters, who fight for their own reasons, find themselves on a collision course.
Variety reports that Lupita Nyong’o and Chloe Grace Moretz will star in Strawweight as UFC fighters. The synopsis is said to “follow the journeys of two fighters who find themselves competing against each other in the Octagon. One is a young woman (Moretz) whose life is changed forever when she discovers her passion for the UFC, while the other is a former champion (Nyong’o) who is determined to reclaim her title by reinventing herself. Both want the same thing — respect — but only one can come out on top.”
The fight film is being launched at the European Film Market by WME Independent and CAA Media Finance. James M. Johnson, who produced and directed second unit on films like The Green Knight, The Old Man and the Gun, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and the upcoming Mother Mary, will be making his directorial debut with this movie. Johnson is a longtime collaborator with A24 and is part of the Sailor Bear production team along with David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks. Johnson had also directed the second unit for Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy and Netflix’s Last Letter From Your Lover.
The screenplay comes from scribe Paul Harrill, from a story by Johnston and Harrill. The movie is set to be produced by Lars Knudsen of Square Peg (Hereditary, The Northman, Dream Scenario), Lowery and Halbrooks of Sailor Bear (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight), and Patrick Newall (Extraction, The Gray Man). UFC superstar and former Strawweight Division champion Rose Namajunas will be serving as a fight consultant and is also on as an executive producer on the film.