Claressa Shields’ headed to the big screen.
Well, it seems that Claressa “T-Rex” Shields’ (9-0, 2KO’s) popularity and legend continue to grow. Her life story will be heading to the big screen! Apparently, her historic and impressive 2012 gold medal winning campaign will be the focus of the new film, “Flint Strong”.
The project is based off the 2015 documentary, “T-Rex”, which was directed by Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari.
Like “T-Rex”, the upcoming feature-length film will tell the story of a 17-year Shields, who sought to become the first American woman to win Olympic gold in boxing.
SPOILER ALERT: Shields would go on to capture two back-to-back gold medals. Such a feat is exclusive to Shields as an American, male or female.
The Team Behind the Film
The new dramatic project heading to the big screen has some serious names attached to it. Cinematographer Rachel Morrison is on board to direct the film per her directorial debut. Morrison is a highly decorated artist in the film industry.
She is most known for her work on projects such as Mudbone, Fruitvale Station, Dope and Black Panther. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematographer for her contributions to “Mudbone”.
Like Shields, Morrison also made history behind that nomination. She was the first female to ever receive a nomination in this category.
Barry Jenkins served as the writer and co-producer for the project. Similar to Morrison, Jenkins is no newcomer to the Hollywood scene. The accomplished artist has a number of successful projects under his belt, which include writer credits for 30 for 30 episode, “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Moonlight”.
In fact, not only did Barry Jenkins write the screenplay for the critically acclaimed film, “Moonlight”, he also directed the feature.
For a while Jenkins, pondered over directing the piece himself. However, he later thought better of it and passed it along.
While the Flint Strong piece will be based off the “T-Rex” documentary, it will not itself be a documentary. Instead, the goal is to produce a full-length dramatic film with an inspirational “Rocky-like” feel about it. At this moment, there are no official completion and release dates.
By: Bakari Simpson
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