Eminem Boxing Film ‘Southpaw’ KO’d by Dreamworks

DreamWorks has pulled the plug on 'Southpaw,' the boxing drama that would mark Eminem's first big-screen role since 2002's '8 Mile.'

According to Deadline, the Antoine Fuqua-directed project was set to begin shooting in January, but DreamWorks' Stacey Snider, who worked on '8 Mile' when she ran Universal, essentially returned the script to its filmmakers so they could find a new home.

DreamWorks picked up the movie last year when Eminem signed on to play the lead, a welterweight boxer who struggles to reclaim glory for himself and his daughter after hitting rock bottom. The script was written by 'Sons of Anarchy' creator Kurt Sutter, who told the site: "In a way, this is a continuation of the '8 Mile' story, but rather than a literal biography, we are doing a metaphorical narrative of the second chapter of his life."

Sutter continued, "He'll play a world champion boxer who really hits a hard bottom, and has to fight to win back his life for his young daughter. At its core, this is a retelling of his struggles over the last five years of his life, using the boxing analogy. I love that the title refers to [Eminem] being a lefty, which is to boxing what a white rapper is to hip-hop; dangerous, unwanted and completely unorthodox. It's a much harder road for a southpaw than a right-handed boxer."

Although 'Southpaw' was dropped by DreamWorks, that doesn't mean the film won't see the light of day. Paramount pulled out from the Mark Wahlberg flick 'The Fighter,' but the movie was eventually made with a downsized budget and re-structured contracts. In fact, the film went on to gross $193 million worldwide and score seven Oscar nominations.