News broke in September that Paul Leyden (Crackle’s Cleaners) would direct independent action comedy Chick Fight starring actress Malin Akerman (Watchmen, TV’s Billions) from a script by Joseph Downey. The film, according to the latest follow up report at Deadline, will also join actor Alec Baldwin and actress Bella Thorne for prospective roles.
Hailing from Yale Productions and Idiot Savant Pictures, the film was shopped at the American Film Market, telling of Akerman who will star as Anna. In the wake of her mother’s death, her father’s closet exit and the accidental torching of her uninsured coffee shop caused by a used spliff exposed to moonshine, Anna sets out to shake and stir herself from life’s funk when her friend draws her into the world of an all-female underground fight club.
Baldwin claims the role of Jack Murphy, Anna’s reclusive trainer who helps her build herself back up in the most primal of ways, while Thorne will tackle the role of Olivia, the club’s champion fighter and Anna’s imminent rival.
Akerman will also produce with Yale’s Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman and Michael J. Rothstein, and with Idiot Savant’s Anne Clements, and Ash Christian. Ramo Law PC founding partner Elsa Ramo and President of Packaging & Sales Tiffany Boyle, who were featured in Screen International film magazine’s 2019 list of International Insiders in the U.S. last month, are executive producing with Russ Posternak, Jon Keeyes and Jesse Korman serving as co-producers for Yale.
Akerman will also soon appear in Nicol Paone’s comedic feature debut, Friendsgiving, which was acquired by Saban this year as announced at the American Film Market.