Pierce Brosnan will star with Amir El-Masry in the sports drama Giant based on the compelling true-life story of British-Yemeni pugilist Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed and his rags to riches ascent to a World Championship under the tutelage of his Irish-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle. El-Masry will play Naz, and Brosnan is set to portray Ingle. The film will be written and directed by Rowan Athale (The Rise, Gangs of London, Strange But True) and produced by Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions and Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions, it was announced today by AGC Chairman and CEO Stuart Ford, who will also produce.
AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital are financing the film.
On board to executive produce are Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood of Balboa Productions, AGC Studios’ Miguel Palos and Zach Garrett, BondIt’s Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Tyler Gould, Michael Ewing and True Brit’s Zygi Kamasa.
Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment has taken UK distribution rights with AGC International handling international sales on the title. The project is set to begin shooting in Leeds, England in late April. Originally scheduled to shoot all of its interiors in Malta, AGC made the decision to move the entirety of production back to the UK and as such Giant is one of the first productions to directly relocate as a result of the recently enacted Independent Film Tax Credit announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Giant is the true story of Hamed’s humble beginnings on the tough working-class streets of Sheffield and his discovery by Ingle, himself a steel industry worker turned boxing trainer. Their unlikely partnership along with Naz’ unorthodox style, cocky persona and sheer dominance in the ring, propelled them to the top of boxing’s elite and unprecedented levels of global superstardom, all in the face of the rampant Islamophobia and racism of 80’s and 90’s Britain.
Ford expressed his support for the project, noting that “since commissioning Rowan to write the brilliant screenplay for ‘Giant’ several years ago, we’ve been passionate about bringing this extraordinary story to the big screen. Amir and Pierce will make a powerful lead duo and it’s exciting that Zygi and his team at True Brit, with their outstanding career track record in launching the best of British film to audiences, believe as fervently as we do in ‘Giant’s’ cinematic potential.”
