Nothing makes people want to go to the movies more than a good fight. At least that's the thinking behind the upcoming film that pits Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone in the boxing ring together in the upcoming film "Grudge Match."
The two actors come from famous boxing film backgrounds. De Niro starred in "Raging Bull" in 1980 as boxer Jak La Motta and Stallone was made famous for his film "Rocky" where he played the up and coming south-paw Rocky Balboa in the 1976 film franchise which sparked five sequels.
The film is due out on December 25 and will put the two actors in the ring as aged champions who never got a chance to break their one to one tie back when they were in their prime. The film is directed by Peter Segal (Anger Management and 50 First Date) and will be significantly less intense than the two boxing films the duo is known for. However, it will take a few pages out of both films books.
"We found this amazing footage of Sly training for Rocky and Bob training for Raging Bull, and put parts of both in the movie," Segal told USA Today. Bull director Martin Scorsese even shot some 16mm footage of De Niro training with former middleweight champion LaMotta, and gave portions of the home movies to Segal. "Seeing them train for these iconic roles was watching film history."
De Niro has poked fun at his own persona for years in films like 1999s Analyze This. Stallone, on the other hand, was reportedly nervous about poking fun at such an iconic character that he helped create. Luckily, once he got into it, he really went head first.
"I'm comfortable" in the ring, he said in an e-mail from Bulgaria where he is currently filming "The Expendables 3. "I love the metaphor for what a struggle life can be."
As for his co-star, Stallone wrote "Robert De Niro is a great actor. He is very reserved and very intelligent - and he takes a good punch."
Check out the trailer for the film below and tell us what you think of the bout in the comments section. Who do you think will win?
