Gavin O’Connor’s 2011 film “Warrior” didn’t light up the box office, but as far as fighting movies go, it’s one of the best there is. The film pits Tom Hardy against Joel Edgerton, two brothers who battle each other and their demons in the intense world of mixed martial arts tournaments. For fans of MMA, the movie remains a sensation, as several figures from that world show up in the film. And the movie is brutal on every level, with the family drama hitting as hard as the punches.
READ MORE: Gavin O’Connor Is Working On A ‘Warrior’ Television Series
And now O’Connor wants to recapture some of that movie’s magic. Deadline reports that O’Connor and Lionsgate Television have a deal with Paramount+ to turn the 2011 film into a 10-episode ongoing series. O’Connor plans to direct all ten episodes and serve as showrunner and co-writer with up-and-comer Adair Cole.
According to O’Connor, Cole is the brainchild behind the new series. “Over the years, I’d been approached by Lionsgate to do Warrior as a TV series, and I honestly was never interested,” O’Connor told Deadline in an interview. “Over the pandemic, I was in a different frame of mind, and they said, ‘Someone came in with an interesting take, Adair Cole,’ and I listened to it and liked it. There was some really interesting stuff in there. I started sketching out characters, expounding what he had and gene splicing things and I called him after the holidays and said, ‘I’m in. I think I want to do this.’ We started figuring out the characters. The thing I said to Adair and Lionsgate which wasn’t in the pitch, is that this is about the life fight.” So, MMA fans have Cole to thank for this new drama series about all that world.
But what is this “life fight” that O’Connor references? “It’s really ambitious, part family drama, sports saga, definitely social commentary, in each character’s life fight,” O’Connor continued said. “We’re dealing with mental health, grief, poverty, drugs and gambling. If we get it right, we’ll be celebrating each character’s journey to redemption against astronomical odds they have to overcome, inside the cage and outside it. It’s a big swing, emotionally and physically, but deeply intimate with the characters.”
The “Warrior” series won’t be an exact retelling of the film. Instead, the show will center around four fighters, two male and two female, as they each attempt to succeed at the highest level of MMA despite demons and personal troubles. O’Connor already has two of his leads locked up, too. Gina Rodriguez plays one of the female leads, Jessica Flores, a woman who wants to build a fighting career separate from her already successful husband and father. And ex-UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion Dan Cormier will play a single father who just lost his wife to cancer and takes up fighting to pay off his medical bill debts.
So, “Warrior” sounds a lot different than the 2011 film’s family-driven drama, but the show retains its heart and soul. This show should be an extra-riveting and rousing addition to Paramount+’s burgeoning list of properties. But what else should audiences expect from the director of “Miracle“?
More news about “Warrior” should be on the way soon.