Russell Crowe - The Prose & the Passion

Cinderella Man

Cast: Russell Crowe (in talks) (Jim Braddock), Renee Zellweger (in talks); other cast not announced yet.

Screenwriters: Charlie Mitchell (debut; also has Okavango coming soon); rewrite of a script by Cliff Hollingsworth (debut)

Based upon: The true story of Depression-era boxing legend James Braddock. Note: Technically, Braddock started fighting in 1926, before the Great Depression began. That little detail doesn't detract much from the facts of the story, but is worth noting regardless. He was still dirt-poor in 1926, whether there was a depression or not.

Premise: Set in New York during the Depression, this is the story of James Braddock (Crowe; in talks), who takes up boxing to make money to feed his family, and ends up becoming quite famous in the process, eventually going up against champ Max Baer... (Braddock's record is available at the link below; beware "spoilers"; Zellweger would play his wife).

Director Lasse Hallstrom has dropped out of the Universal/Miramax drama Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe and has committed to helming Miramax's screen adaptation of David Liss' novel A Conspiracy of Paper instead. The story centers around the inception of the stock exchange in 18th-century London. Hallstrom switched gears when production on Cinderella was delayed.--Hollywood.com start date has been pushed back about 14 months because of Crowe's commitment to The Far Side of the World