Deadline has unveiled the first official image from Southpaw, Antoine Fuqua’s long-awaited boxing drama, featuring a drastically transformed Jake Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal plays the titular left-handed boxer, whose boxing prowess runs in parallel to a chaotic personal life in which he is trying to win back the love of his estranged daughter.
Gyllenhaal put on some fifteen pounds of muscle for the role, and it’s only too apparent here, with the actor unrecognisable from his slimline turn in Nightcrawler.
The film had initially been set to star Eminem in the lead role, only for the rapper to drop out while the project stalled in development limbo. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal has apparently been training hard with professional fighters in order to get the boxing scenes down…
Directed by Fuqua and co-starring Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris and Forrest Whitaker, Southpaw is expected to open next year, with an exact release date to be confirmed.
