Blake Lively is becoming a mixed martial arts fighter.
No, not in real life, unfortunately. Rather, she’ll be starring in the upcoming Nick Cassavetes film Bruised, which follows the story of a single mother who resorts to cage fighting in order to keep the authorities from taking away her child. So imagine Here Comes The Boom, but with more feeling. That’s something director Cassavetes knows pretty well considering his other films include The Notebook and My Sister’s Keeper.
This isn’t Cassavetes’ first attempt at a pivot from heavy drama to women fighting. He was originally slated to direct the Road House reboot starring Ronda Rousey before the wheels fell off that one. While still technically in production, word is it’s been put on the backburner following Rousey’s high profile UFC losses and the massive backlash against gender flipping flicks like Ghostbusters: Answer The Call.
It could be a while before we get to see Blake Lively strap on the five ounce gloves, though. Production isn’t set to start on the film until September. Interestingly enough, both Blake and Nick Cassavetes (and Rousey for that matter) are all represented by WME … who became the owners of the UFC last year in a deal worth $4.3 billion. So it seems the Hollywood agency’s interest in cage fighting will extend out past sports into the other realms they control. With two new women’s divisions added to the UFC in the past year, it seems like WME is betting big on women’s MMA becoming a massive hit in North America.
