Tim Kelleher's spec script, picked up by Warners back in May, now has a director: Peter Segal has signed on to direct the over-the-hill boxing comedy **Grudge Match.
It's the story of two lifelong rival pugilists tempted back into the ring for One Last Fight, even though neither of them has strapped on the gloves for decades.
Segal previously directed Get Smart and 50 First Dates, so knows his way around an amiable featherweight project, but he may find himself with some heavyweight stars to wrangle if the studio get their way. Top of Warner's wishlist are, according to Deadline, Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone. While a Balboa vs. LaMotta chuckle-fest does sound appealing, we just think it's a shame Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are no longer with us.
Mark Steven Johnson (director of Ghost Rider and Daredevil, and, as it happens, writer of Grumpy Old Men) is producing along with Bill Gerber (who had a hand in Gran Torino). No start date yet.