[Iceman]

Eminem made his musical comeback last year, and this year, he's making a big screen comeback -- in more ways that one.

The rapper, who won Grammy gold for his 2009 album 'Relapse,' his first in five years, will star in the gritty boxing movie 'Southpaw,' according to Deadline. Eminem has not appeared on film since 2002's '8 Mile,' which chronicled his rise from poverty to fame as a rapper. This film will act as a second chapter, albeit in a more metaphorical way.

As a rising star welterweight boxer, Eminem's character will rise from humble beginnings to win the title before cratering down to the bottom again. He'll have to fight his way to the top again.

"He is very interested in the boxing genre, and it seemed like an apt metaphor, because his own life has been a brawl," the film's writer, Kurt Sutter, told Deadline. "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."

Eminem led the Grammy Award nominations with ten nods, partly on the strength of his hit song 'Not Afraid.' The title fits right into the rapper's story, and the story of this film.

[Novo]

Sounds like a very typical boxing movie

[Iceman]

sounds V similar to the Wrestler.

[Ramsay]

was he not in that movie with adam sandler and seth rogan last year?

[Iceman]

Yeah but that was a cameo IIRC, this will be his first major acting role since 2002.

[M X]

Doubt it will be as good as 8 Mile, but I'm intrigued.

[InOne]

8 Mile is rather good. Should just leave it there with acting.

[letmein]

I wouldn't classify anything as a "comeback", until he does it, and it becomes a success. He's on his way out anyway. He's getting pretty old, and rappers have a shelf-life. He'll probably move behind the scenes.

[Iceman]

Eminem's upcoming movie Southpaw could be directed by Training Day helmer Antoine Fuqua.

Southpaw will see Eminem play a welterweight boxing champion who recovers from a personal tragedy by succeeding in the ring.

Fuqua is currently in talks with DreamWorks, who is aiming for production to begin in the autumn, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The director, who is currently working on a biopic of drug lord Pablo Escobar, is also attached to an untitled biopic of dead rapper Tupac Shakur.

DreamWorks has prioritised Southpaw after the success of boxing drama The Fighter, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Southpaw could mark the return of Eminem in front of the camera, after his critically acclaimed turn in 2002's semi-autobiographical 8 Mile.

Eminem said last month that he was looking at several projects but wanted to find something "dope enough to put down the mic for a second".

[Iceman]

Eminem's latest movie has been cancelled by Dreamworks, allegedly because of stiff competition from other fighter films to be released.

Scheduled to start shooting next year, the 38-year-old ‘Without Me’ rapper was due to star in the film about a boxer who must overcome misfortune to get back to the top.

The synopsis describes Eminem’s role as a "fast-rising welterweight boxer who brawls his way to the title, only to see his world crash down around him due to a tragedy."

Although the studio hasn’t released an official statement, speculation is that due to the large number of fighter movies due out next year this project was axed.

On the upside, the project has been handed back to Slim Shady and the film’s director, 'Training Day's' Antoine Fuqua, who can now pitch it to rival studios in the hope of getting it made before it loses momentum.

It was 10 years ago that Eminem’s performance in film ‘8 Mile’ won critical acclaim and won him an Oscar for the film’s theme song ‘Lose Yourself.’

[Iceman]

Eminem's movie comeback could be on the horizon after a distributor was found for the film.

The rapper - real name Marshall Mathers - is due to star in boxing drama Southpaw, but studio DreamWorks had dropped out of the project in August. Now Deadline reports MGM with Sony Pictures is set to win the bid for the movie against Alcon Entertainment and Summit Entertainment.

Eminem, who hasn't appeared on the big screen since his movie debut in the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile in 2002, is set to star as a once-victorious fighter who wishes to reclaim his past glory after seeing his world crash down following a tragedy.

The film is to be written by Sons Of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, and has been inspired by the rapper's real-life struggles and life.

Kurt said: "He is very interested in the boxing genre, and it seemed like an apt metaphor, because his own life has been a brawl. 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."

The film will be directed by Training Day's Antoine Fuqua, who is himself a former boxer.

[Iceman]

Eminem has decided to press pause on the boxing movie he was working on, at least for now.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the rapper has decided to postpone production on the film, possibly to work on music instead.
As we mentioned last year, the "8 Mile" actor had announced he'd star in "Southpaw," which follows a welterweight boxer battling to get his life and career back on track.
To that end, he'd sought film incentives in Michigan for the first quarter of 2012 via what was billed as the "Untitled MGM Project." But the financial application has since been withdrawn, with the cited reason being a "talent issue," the Free Press reports.
Eminem's reps have confirmed the decision came from Slim Shady himself.
"He's focusing on his music right now, so while he's doing that, while he's in that space, he wanted to put this on hold for the time being," his rep said.
"Southpaw" is expected to be shot in Detroit and its immediate suburbs. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film is expected to employ more than 200 crew members and more than 9,000 extras when it gets rolling.

Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/entertainment/31...#ixzz1uaa7DvIH