The Thick of the Ring

The light heavyweight champion of the world.

His loving family.

His short fuse.

It all proves to be a bad combo for Jake Gyllenhaal before he pulls it together in the upcoming Southpaw, a Kurt Sutter-written, Antoine Fuqua-helmed story of redemption that, yes, will feature the Gyllen-yum all ripped to shreds and s--- but that also will give us another reason to admire the Oscar-nominated actor for his chops. Just like he likes it best.

Check out the film’s intense first trailer now:



Southpaw – co-starring Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams, and Naomie Harris – is due out on July 31.

The Social Worker

Confession time: I’ve just discovered FX’s Sons of Anarchy.

Thanks to Netflix, I’m now two seasons in and totally down with Kurt Sutter’s immersive writing and completely engaged by his MCers.

So I’m Team Sutter now.

Which means I cannot wait until Southpaw hits the silver screen.

Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a left-handed prizefighter who wins a single title but suffers a tragic blow afterward and must then get it together in order to earn back the respect of his young daughter, Southpaw has just called on Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) to play a social worker trying to help Jakey-bear with all his affairs.

From the looks of IMDb, though, this is the part that Lupita Nyong’o was set to play. Perhaps the Oscar winner has a conflict with her duties on Star Wars: Episode VII...?

Anyway, Rachel McAdams also will be featured in the film, which Antoine Fuqua’s directing, so this one will still very much a must.

Photo: BecauseIAmFabulous.com.

Gwen...In This Corner

Gwen Stefani is entering the ring.

The singer is collaborating with Eminem on the soundtrack for the upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal film Southpaw. In fact, the two entertainers have recorded “Kings Never Die” for the Eminem-produced album, and the song is already out there as a single.

And I. Am. Feeling it.

Southpaw is really gonna bring it on all fronts, I think. Cannot wait.

Photo: XclusivesZone.net.

He Will Be Rocky

Boxing movies are having a moment.

Jake Gyllenhaal recently starred in Southpaw. Creed is a blockbuster. Miles Teller and Édgar Ramírez are about to enter the ring.

And now comes word that Jeremy Renner is fixin’ to star in Undefeated: The Rocky Marciano Story, an authorized telling of the story of the heavyweight champ who held the title from 1952 to 1956, retiring undefeated, 49-0, at 32, and dying in a plane crash in 1969.

This one...could be the awards bait knockout that Renner has been looking for.

Photo: EW.com.

In Fighting Shape

Hot dayum, Jake Gyllenhaal!

The Gyllen-yum is back in Prince of Persia territory, shape-wise, to play Billy “The Great” Hope, a left-handed junior middle weight champ who loses it all in a personal tragedy and then is forced to fight his way to redemption, in Southpaw.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film was written by Kurt Sutter (FX’s Sons of Anarchy) and is due out for release next year.

Jakey-bear reportedly packed on 15 lbs. of muscle for the part, so, you know...Awards Bait Alert!

Photo: Deadline.com.

R.I.P. Master Horner

James Horner, the Academy Award-winning composer, has passed away.

The 61-year-old Titanic music man perished yesterday, in a plane crash near Santa Barbara, Calif. He was flying alone at the time of the accident.

The prolific artist – his IMDb lists 156 credits as a composer – reportedly was working again with James Cameron (whose tribute to his colleague you can read here), on the director’s sequels to Avatar before his untimely death.

Horner’s work will next be heard in next month’s Southpaw.

Photo: Twitter.com.

Update 1: Click here for remembrances from the likes of Celine Dion, Ron Howard, Diane Warren, Russell Crowe, and OneRepublic, among others.

Update 2: So for whatever reason, Horner’s death wasn’t confirmed until early evening today.

Life in Pieces

This coming spring, Jake Gyllenhaal will try to cope.

See, the Southpaw star is headlining Demolition, Jean-Marc Vallée’s follow-up to Wild and the story of an investment banker trying to understand and get over his emotional disconnection to his life following the tragic death of his wife, only to be saved by a woman he meets by chance.

Naomi Watts is playing his savior, a mystery wrapped in a bit of an enigma for now, from the looks of the film’s first trailer.

Demolition will arrive in theaters on April 18.

Photo: TheGuardian.com.

The Snow Man

Well, these two must have liked working together on Southpaw.

Jake Gyllenhall and Antoine Fuqua are getting ready to do it again, as the star and director of The Man Who Made It Snow.

The project will revolve around Max Mermelstein, the real-life Jewish hotel engineer who played a key role in turning Pablo Escobar’s small-time Medellin-based cartel into a billion-dollar enterprise.

Fuqua and the Nightcrawler also will serves as producers on the film, so let’s def go ahead and start referring to this one as a labor of love for them, OKRRR.

Photo: TheFashionisto.com.

Woman Got Some Gunslingers

Coming up later this year, it’s The Magnificent Seven!

Indeed, as expected, Southpaw director Antoine Fuqua is delivering his Nic Pizzolatto-written remake reimagining of the 1960 film about a group of gunmen who defend a Mexican town from a bunch o’ outlaws (and the woman who puts them on the task).

The Sept. 23 release will pit cowboys (led by Denzel Washington) against cowboys (hey there, Peter Sarsgaard) in a sandy battle of bullets and whathaveya.

The Magnificent Seven co-stars Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett, Ethan Hawke, Matt Bomer, among others. Behold the movie’s first trailer now.

Photo: ComingSoon.net.

Strange Woman

Could she actually be playing...Captain Marvel?

Only time will tell.

This much is for sure, though: Rachel McAdams is going to be in Doctor Strange. And somewhere out there, probably on some yacht that is costing her a lot, Lindsay Lohan is kicking herself.

But back to McAdams.

Not much is known about which Marvelverse character the actress will be portraying on the Benedict Cumberbatch-fronted blockbuster. Odds are, however, that she will rock it.

The Spotlight and Southpaw star joins a cast that also includes Tilda Swinton and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the latter of whom will play the movie’s villain, Baron Mordo.

Doctor Strange will be in theaters in November 2016.

Photo: HollywoodReporter.com.

Fighter Father

So this is why director Antoine Fuqua won’t be working on London Has Fallen: He’ll be too busy with Jake Gyllenhaal.

I’d pick the Gyllen-yum over anything any day, too.

See, the actor is thisclose to signing on to star in Southpaw, a Kurt (FX’s Sons of Anarchy) Sutter-written boxing-world-set film about a left-handed prizefighter who wins a single title but suffers a tragic blow afterward and must then get it together in order to earn back the respect of his young daughter. Eminem was once attached to carry this one.

“The heart of the movie,” Fuqua has said, “is about a man learning to be a father.”

Oh, does my Jakey-bear have heart. Oh yes he does. :)

Photo: MyNewPlaidPants.blogspot.com.