In a recent announcement from Amazon Studios, UFC icon Conor McGregor has landed his first big acting gig alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in a remake of a classic ‘80s action film.
The two-time UFC champion will also star alongside Billy Bagnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Lukas Gage, and more. Doug Liman is directing from a script written by Anthony Bagarozzi & Charles Mondry. Joel Silver is producing for his company, Silver Pictures, while JJ Hook, Alison Winter and Aaron Auch will serve as executive producers.
What’s The Film About?
The original 1989 Road House, directed by Rowdy Herrington, follows James Dalton (Patrick Swayze) as a ‘cooler’ — a type of bouncer who may lead a team of bouncers, but also specializes in the interpersonal skills required to calm down potential conflicts.
Hired by an old associate, Dalton leaves New York City to take charge of a sleazy bar called the Double Deuce, where he attempts to wipe clean any instances of theft and drug dealing. This gets on the wrong side of local entrepreneur-villain Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara), who carries out attacks on Dalton and his cohorts, eventually murdering Dalton’s close friend Wade Garrett (Sam Elliot), an experienced bouncer who served as a mentor to Dalton.
Dalton snaps, goes on a true-blue ‘80s action rampage against Wesley and his men, and saves the day.
Not exactly what you’d call a riveting masterpiece of cinema, Road House was nevertheless a massive cult hit, and despite the corny dialogues and plot cliches, established itself as a prime example of guilty-pleasure, fun-to-watch action flicks.
While McGregor might not have a lot of acting experience, he’s certainly got buckets of charisma to share — something that’s made him notorious amongst competitors and infamous amongst UFC fans. In the remake, he’s expected to play the role of Garrett, while Gyllenhaal takes up the lead role as a washed-up UFC fighter who finds work as a bouncer in the iconic Florida Keys archipelago, and soon discovers that there’s trouble brewing in paradise.
According to Deadline, McGregor has been on Hollywood’s hitlist for quite some time, but the fighter decided to wait patiently until the right role came along — pursuing business interests during his downtime from fighting.
“Insiders say when he got wind there was interest for him to join Road House, he actually watched the film for the first time and, after enjoying the original, was game to meet to see how he would play a part in the new film,” wrote film reporter Justin Kroll. “Sources add that after a meeting with Silver, McGregor was all in and loved the idea where the new story was headed compared to the original.”
While McGregor has shot dozens of advertisements for his various commercial ventures, Road House will be his first foray into feature films. He is repped by WME, Patrick Knapp of GGSS&C and Audie Attar of Paradigm Sports Management.
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