Andre Holland and Wendell Pierce are stepping into the ring for the true-life boxing movie They Fight. The feature is based on the 2018 documentary of the same name that told the story of a down-and-out fighter who becomes involved with one of the country’s top youth boxing programs.
A/Vantage Pictures is producing alongside Andscape, a division of ESPN, Argent Pictures, North of Now, and Mandalay Pictures in association with Harper Road.
Holland plays boxing savant Walt Manigan, a reformed ex-convict who returns home to rebuild his family with the love of his life, Ketta (Samira Wiley). His path leads him to a boxing gym inside a D.C. youth recreation center that is about to be closed. There, he works under the wise coach Slim (Pierce) to mentor a group of boys to train for the junior national boxing tournament, all leading to a showdown between best friends Quincey (Toussaint Francois Battiste) and Peanut (Anthony B. Jenkins) as they battle for a spot on the U.S. Junior Olympic Team.
Sheldon Candis is directing from a script he wrote with Andrew Renzi, the director of the original They Fight documentary, who will also produce with Jason Michael Berman and Ben Renzo.
The cast also includes Mykelti Williamson, Tory J. Malone, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, Amanda Warren and Andre Royo.
Like any good movie, the behind-the-scenes story of They Fight had some zigs and zags of its own. It is the long awaited sophomore feature from Candis, who 13 years ago directed the Sundance feature Luv, where he worked with producers Berman, as well as Renzo. Berman and Renzo later got to know Renzi by working on his 2015 Richard Gere feature The Benefactor, and later on the They Fight documentary. When it came time to develop They Fight as a feature, they played matchmaker between Candis and Renzi.
The feature has recently wrapped production and will bow on Disney+ and Hulu. It received support from the Maryland Film Commission and the Maryland film tax credit.
Holland is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and Del Shaw. Pierce is repped by Paradigm and Frankfurt Kurnit. Wiley is repped by Innovative and Johnson Shapiro. Jenkins is repped by Paradigm, Rebel Creative Group and Yorn Levine. Battisteis repped by Innovative. Mykelti is repped by Paradigm, Medavoy Management and Myman Greenspan. Maloneis repped by Paonessa Talent Agency. Nicholson is repped by CESD Talent Agency, AC Management and Jackoway Austen. Kajese-Bolden is repped by- Atlanta Models and Talent and Patty Woo Management. Warren is repped by Buchwald, Alchemy Entertainment and Ginsburg Daniels. Royo is repped by Buchwald, Entertainment 360 and Yorn Levine.
