About The Fire Inside
The Fire Inside is a new American sports movie directed by Rachel Morrison. It’s her first time directing a full-length film. The movie is based on a 2015 documentary called T-Rex about Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, a boxer training for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ryan Destiny plays the main role, with Judy Greer and Brian Tyree Henry also starring.
The project started in October 2016 when Barry Jenkins adapted the documentary for Universal Pictures, calling it Flint Strong. Rachel Morrison joined as the director in June 2019, with Michael De Luca, Elishia Holmes, Zackary Canepari, and Drea Cooper producing along with Jenkins. Ryan Destiny was cast in November, and Ice Cube and Judy Greer joined in early 2020. Filming began in Toronto in March 2020 but stopped two days later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming was supposed to start again in June 2021, but Ice Cube left in October and Universal stopped the project. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picked it up in May 2022, and Brian Tyree Henry and Oluniké Adeliyi joined the cast, with filming resuming that month.
The Fire Inside is set to be released in theaters on August 9, 2024, by Amazon MGM Studios through their Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer label.
Plot of The Fire Inside
Claressa “T-Rex” Shields is training to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Cast
- Ryan Destiny as Claressa “T-Rex” Shields
- Judy Greer
- Brian Tyree Henry as Jason Crutchfield
- Oluniké Adeliyi as Jackie Shields
- De’Adre Aziza as Mickey
Production of The Fire Inside
On October 7, 2016, Universal Pictures hired Barry Jenkins to adapt the 2015 documentary T-Rex into a movie, with the possibility of him directing it. On June 19, 2019, Rachel Morrison was chosen to direct her first film, Flint Strong. Jenkins would produce it with Michael De Luca and Elishia Holmes. Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, who worked on T-Rex, would be executive producers.
On November 13, 2019, Ryan Destiny was cast to play Claressa “T-Rex” Shields. On February 5, 2020, Ice Cube was cast as Shields’ coach, Jason Crutchfield. Judy Greer joined the cast on May 14. However, on October 29, 2021, Ice Cube left the project because he refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19, which delayed the film.
Filming started at Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto on March 11, 2020, but was stopped on March 13 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shields mentioned in an interview with The Guardian that filming was expected to resume in June 2021. The project faced a long delay because Universal dropped it. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picked it up, and on May 25, 2022, Brian Tyree Henry joined the cast to replace Ice Cube. Oluniké Adeliyi joined to play Shields’ mother, and filming resumed later that month. On July 6, 2022, De’Adre Aziza joined the cast as Mickey, Crutchfield’s wife.
Release of The Fire Inside
The movie will come out on August 9, 2024.
Click here to visit more!
