Andre Holland takes a swing at getting a fresh start in the trailer for Hulu‘s boxing drama They Fight.
Holland (Moonlight), Wendell Pierce (The Wire) and Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale) star in writer-director Sheldon Candis’ feature that premieres Monday at Tribeca Festival before making its Hulu debut July 17. Anthony B. Jenkins, Toussaint Francois Battiste and Mykelti Williamson round out the cast.
Based on the 2018 documentary of the same name, They Fight centers on real-life Walt Manigan (Holland), an ex-con who longs to patch things up with Ketta (Wiley), the mother of his young son. After putting his boxing past behind him, Walt finds himself coaching a D.C.-based team of teen boxers who aspire to compete for the national championship. The movie’s trailer can be seen below and is exclusive to The Hollywood Reporter.
“If y’all can see past my mistakes, I promise you I’ll give you everything I’ve got,” Holland says in the footage.
Candis helmed the film from a script he wrote with Andrew Renzi that is based on Renzi’s 2018 documentary. Producers include Renzi, Jason Michael Berman and Ben Renzo.
“They Fight is my love letter to one of my all-time favorite directors John G. Avildsen,” says Candis about the Oscar-winning director of Rocky and the original Karate Kid trilogy. “It’s a Karate Kid-inspired narrative punched in the face with a John Hughes coming of age story about Southeast D.C. kids fighting to dream within amateur youth boxing.”
The filmmaker adds, “Andre Holland plays the real life character of Walt Manigan within this documentary adaption of a man searching to reclaim his soul.”
