From acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua and starring Academy Award-nominated Jake Gyllenhaal comes a story of tragedy, loss and the painful road to redemption…
Billy “The Great" Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the reigning Junior Middleweight Champion whose unorthodox stance, the so-called “Southpaw," consists of an ineloquent, though brutal, display of offensive fighting…one fuelled by his own feelings of inadequacy and a desperate need for love, money and fame.
With a beautiful family, home and financial security, Billy is on top both in and out of the ring until a tragic accident leaves his wife (Rachel McAdams) dead and sends him into a downward spiral.
His days now an endless haze of alcohol and prescription drugs, his daughter taken by Child Services and his home repossessed by the bank, Billy’s fate is all but sealed until a washed up former boxer named Tick (Forest Whitaker) agrees to take the bereaved pugilist under his wing so long as he agrees to his strict ethos.
Relentless and utterly committed to a fighter that thinks as much as he throws punches, Tick rebuilds Billy into a new man: one that is agile, fearsome and uncompromising in the ring while thoughtful, loving and disciplined outside of it.
Now, as he works to regain custody of his daughter and mounts a professional comeback, Billy must face his demons head-on as he learns that, sometimes, your greatest opponent can be yourself…
The film took Seven years to write with the lead role been written with Eminem in mind to play the character. The film also stars rapper 50 Cent, former World Boxing Champ Victor Ortiz, and our own Rita Ora, who has won high praise for her role by early previewers of the film.
The film gets its UK release on 31st July, but you can watch the new trailer for the film below right now.