Christina Hendricks, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber join the boxing film The Bleeder
Brad Sturdivant
May 11th, 2011
Posted by: Brad Sturdivant
You may have thought THE FIGHTER was going to be the last successful boxing film, but you were wrong. The upcoming biopic on Chuck Wepner, entitled THE BLEEDER is currently looking for a home at the Cannes film festival and has Christina Hendricks, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber lined up to star. For those that aren’t boxing aficionados, Wepner is the man responsible for inspiring Stallone to write ROCKY. In 1975, Wepner challenged Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight title, taking the champ to 15 rounds before finally getting knocked out. It’s a very similar story to Rocky, only it didn’t end in numerous sequels. Wepner never really took off after the fight, but he still lives in boxing history as one of the sport’s biggest surprises.
The film will be directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, who will be making the switch from documentary filmmaker to director. Feurzeig also co-wrote the script with BAD BOYS 2 scribe Jerry Stahl.
Source: Variety
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