Jodie Whittaker joins Paddy Considine’s boxing drama Journeyman

Jodie Whittaker

by James White |
Published on

Paddy Considine has been developing his second directorial gig, a boxing drama now known as Journeyman, for a while. He's locked the final bits of funding and plans to star alongside Jodie Whittaker, Faraz Ayub, Tony Pitts and Paul Popplewell.

Considine wrote the script for the new drama, which draws from research into real-life boxers – at one point he was planing to adapt a book about the shady world of pugilism in Florida. Now the film will focus on Matty Burton (Considine), who is the middleweight boxing champion of the world looking to wind down his career, make enough money to care for his family and get out of the ring. He agrees to a match against arrogant, controversial fighter Nassar Ali, who is looking to take his title. After a hard-fought clash, Matty returns home, only to collapse a few hours later, suffering the delayed effects of a devastating punch. After slipping into a coma, he awakens to a world of memory loss and altered personality, and his real struggle will be against his own health.

With StudioCanal signing on to release the film in the UK, Considine is preparing to shoot and will start production next month. Given how good 2011's Tyrannosaur was, we can't wait to see what he does this time.

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