First set photos of David Michod’s untitled boxing biopic, starring Sydney Sweeney, have started surfacing online, and Sweeney looks damn-near unrecognizable as boxer Christy Martin.
Sweeney is clearly gunning for Oscar with this role, and trying to break out from her bombshell status. Martin was dubbed the “female rocky” and her story is quite interesting. In fact, next year’s Oscar race has another actor playing against type, also with prosthetics, as Dwayne Johnson is aiming for awards as fighter Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine.”
The Martin biopic was another “hot package” that was at the Cannes market. Michod co-wrote the script with Mirrah Folks (“Judy & Punch”). Production kickstarted a few days ago in Virginia. There isn’t a distributor attached to the film yet.
Martin, a gay woman, from a conservative Virginia family, was the first female boxer to sign with promoter Don King, and the only female boxer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She also had to deal with the physical and emotional abuse of her husband, and manager, Jim Martine.
Fun Fact: Sweeney should have no problem getting in shape for the role — she wrestled and kickboxed for close to 7 years in her early to late teens. Michod said in a statement having been highly impressed by Sweeney’s turn in last year’s HBO movie “Reality.” I’ve already written about her performance in that film, it convinced me that she was a great actress.
Last we heard from Michod, he was editing a “new version” of his upcoming A24 stoner dramedy, “Wizards!, which had test screened late last year. We might expect that one to be released next winter. His other filmmaking credits include “Animal Kingdom,” “The Rover,” and “War Machine.”