EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Eckhart has boarded the pugilist thriller Rumble Through the Dark based on the Michael Farris Smith novel The Fighter.
Smith adapted his own novel and Graham Phillips & Parker Phillips (The Bygone) will direct. Foresight Unlimited is introducing the movie for foreign buyers at the Virtual Cannes Market. Elevated’s Cassian Elwes is producing and will rep the pic for U.S. sale along with CAA Media Finance.
Rumble Through the Dark is set in the dark landscape of the Mississippi Delta, where a former bare-knuckle fighter (Eckhart) must win one last fight to pay off his debts to the local mob boss and save his childhood home—the stakes nothing less than life or death. Cameras roll at the end of July in Natchez, MS.
Elwes is producing alongside Cleta Ellington for the Crooked Letter Picture Company. Foresight’s Mark Damon and Tamara Birkemoe will serve as EPs alongside Tate Taylor and John Norris of Crooked Letter Picture Company, and Jere Hausfater.
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The directors said: “We are thrilled to be making this film with Aaron and with the support of Cassian Elwes and Tate Taylor and his team. For us, this story is about the love between a mother and a son, and the lengths one will go to find redemption. We can’t think of anyone better positioned to portray the role of the fighter than Aaron.”
Eckhart’s credits include Roland Emmerich’s Midway; London Has Fallen starring Gerard Butler; Ben Younger’s Bleed for This; Clint Eastwood’s Sully for Warner Bros.; Rabbit Hole alongside Nicole Kidman; and the upcoming The First Lady starring Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson.
Eckhart is represented by CAA and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman, and Smith by UTA and Silver Lake Entertainment.
The Foresight Unlimited slate includes Gigi Gaston’s adventure thriller Nine Bullets starring Lena Headey, Sam Worthington and Barbara Hershey and Lina Roessler’s Best Sellers starring Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza, which was part of the Berlinale’s Special Gala and also produced by Elwes.
Foresight Unlimited is a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment company.