Rhames to Play Sonny Liston in 'Phantom Punch'
Filed under: Drama, Sports, Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, Scripts
The man who made one lone bandaid look like the most badass thing around is going to take on an infamous heavyweight role. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Ving Rhames is going to star as boxer Sonny Liston in the upcoming biopic Phantom Punch. Writer/actor/director Ryan Combs wrote the screenplay, and the film is being directed by Robert Townsend (writer, director, and star of The Meteor Man). The film will cover Liston's success as a boxer, and include that "phantom punch" that brought him down.Townsend says: "The thing is that certain people are born to play certain roles and Ving has always gravitated toward Sonny Liston's story. This is his baby, and he's giving birth to it. He's already playing the character at so many levels." Liston's the guy who went up against Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali and was brought down by the infamous "phantom punch," which was then immortalized on a Sports Illustrated cover. That's really got to suck for a man who won by knock out 39 of his 54 fights, and only lost 4. Instead of being most remembered for that, he's the guy who snoozed in the ring. But boxing isn't all that Rhames will have to take on. Before getting in the ring, Liston's predilection towards fighting got him sent to prison twice, and there's also ties to the mob to deal with. Production began this week in Toronto, and is scheduled to wrap in the beginning of December.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-30-2007 @ 1:48PM
moovyphreak said...
Rhames has been circling a Sonny Liston project for years. He was even attached to a film project titled NIGHT TRAIN that William Friedkin was lined up to direct as far back as 1999.
More info on that here:
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/preview/1808405954
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 1:58PM
Nicko said...
This story reminded me of the other boxing-related film Rhames did, "Don King: Only in America". He was brilliant in that.
Reply
10-30-2007 @ 3:01PM
moovyphreak said...
Rhames as starred as Iceman Chambers in UNDISPUTED, the 2002 prison boxing movie with Wesley Snipes, Peter Falk & Fisher Stevens.
Reply
10-31-2007 @ 4:22AM
bongo123 said...
This dude is easily one of the coolest cats in Hollywood, loved him in "People under the stairs"
Reply