First look at Paddy Considine’s Journeyman

Empire Inspiration{ =nofollow}, fan favourite and possibly the world’s biggest Rocky fan, Paddy Considine is currently busy on his second directorial feature. Fittingly, Journeyman is set in the world of boxing and sees the man tackling a Balboa-like struggle that starts in the ring but ends somewhere else altogether. Check out its first official still below.

Billed as a story of loss and triumph, Journeyman sees Derbyshire’s finest playing an ageing middleweight, Matty Burton, pursuing one final payday before retirement. Money worries play into the decision but it’s a fateful one. Burton is left floored by a big punch and left with a whole new future to confront.

"It's about our identity,” runs the synopsis, “and how in life we sometimes have to dig deep into our soul to discover who we really are".

Considine, who also wrote the screenplay, has enlisted Jodie Whittaker, Anthony Welsh, Tony Pitts and Paul Popplewell in a cast that also boasts a fair few first-time actors. Real-life boxers, nurses and commentators should ensure a naturalistic - and realistic - tone to the film.

It’s been five years since Considine’s remarkable, confronting filmmaking debut, Tyrannosaur, and this one looks well-worth marking your diaries for. It’s not making its cinematic bow until next year, but look out for plenty more on it from Empire in the meantime.