Being removed as the show runner of a TV series you created can really ruin your year. But there’s an upside: lots more free time. Rod Lurie – who was replaced at the helm of US TV drama Commander In Chief – has been using his time to work on a new film.
And now he has a cast: Josh Hartnett and Samuel L Jackson will star in Resurrecting The Champ. Hartnett’s playing a cub reporter who stumbles across a homeless man (Jackson), who he believes is a former boxing champ. When the pair develop a close bond he – look away now if you hate spoilers – discovers that the fighter isn’t the man he thinks he is.
Based on a series of articles by LA Times reporter JR Moehringer, the script was originally written by Allison Burnett – but Lurie will re-write it himself. “"The article made me cry and this is a wonderful story of fathers and sons and the honesty between them," Lurie tells Variety.