Completing the one-two punch of hard-hitting boxing dramas following last year’s Southpaw, The Weinstein Company has premiered our first look at Hands of Stone, thrusting Edgar Ramirez between the ropes and into the ring as Panamanian boxer, Roberto Durån.
Attracting legions of adoring fans throughout his glittering career, the WBC welterweight champ hopped from success story to success story, even toppling Sugar Ray Leonard (singer-songwriter Usher Raymond) before ultimatley hanging up his gloves in 2002 at the age of 50.
Written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, Hands of Stone boasts an ace in the hole in Robert De Niro, who is no stranger to the ring after headlining Martin Scorsese’s defining Raging Bull all those years ago. He’ll be joined on the casting docket by Ana de Armas, Ellen Barkin and John Turturro.
Shooting for a late summer release, Jakubowicz’s sports pic is one of the many boxing dramas currently in the works, alongside the Miles Teller-fronted Bleed For This and Paddy Considine’s passion project, Journeyman.
Hands of Stone has been slated for a theatrical release on August 26. Unlike Southpaw before it, there hasn’t been much awards buzz surrounding Jonathan Jakubowicz’s sports feature, though that could all be about to change in the coming months.
While we wait for Edgar Ramirez to step into the ring, you can check out the film’s minimalist poster, below.
HANDS OF STONE follows the life of Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez), the Panamanian fighter who made his professional debut in 1968 as a 16 year‐old and retired in 2002 at the age of 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) to capture the WBC welterweight title, but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in their November rematch, famously saying the words “no mas” (no more.)
