So one last minute switch has been made on Steven Soderbergh’s action spy thriller, “Knockout,” starring mixed-martial arts champion Gina Carano.
Sources close to the project tell us Dennis Quaid has dropped out of the picture due to a scheduling conflict that couldn’t be figured out with the film “Soul Surfer,” about the Florida teen (Bethany Hamilton) whose arm was bitten off by a shark in 2003 (that film stars Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt, Kevin Sorbo and shoots in Hawaii next week). In negotiations to replace him is actor Bill Paxton known in recent years for his role on HBO’s “Big Love” and beloved for roles in “Aliens,” “Apollo 13” and “Titanic” (he’s also really great in the underrated/little- seen Carl Franklin neo-noir, “One False Move” from 1992).
French actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz (“Amelie,” Spielberg’s “Munich”) has also joined the picture in an undisclosed role, but is somehow involved in the picture’s intrigue.
“Knockout” stars Carano as a black ops specialist who goes on the run once she’s been double crossed and framed by her own teammates. Quaid was set to play Carano’s father, so Paxton will now be stepping up into that role.
Allegiances are said to be in flux throughout the picture and may have changed once again as Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Dobbs (“Kafka,” “The Limey”) have been rewriting and rewriting these past few weeks and previously reported character loyalties may have shifted or changed.
As previously reported, “Knockout” also stars Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Fassbender and Michael Angarano. Shooting begins Monday in Dublin.