BEHANDING's Mackie Joins Hugh Jackman in 'Real Steel' Film

Anthony Mackie, who can currently be seen on Broadway in A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, will join Hugh Jackman in the forthcoming film 'Real Steel.' The film is set for a release in November 2011.

In the action film, Jackman plays an ex-fighter who becomes a promoter when human boxing is outlawed for being too violent. In their place are 2000-pound fighting robots with human qualities. Unable to adequately compete in Robot Boxing, the character instead focuses on a discarded robot that always seems to win. Meanwhile, he also learns that he is the father of a 13-year old son, and they bond as the robot fights its way toward the top (this is Hollywood, of course).

'Real Steel,' was originally written by Dan Gilroy, but has been rewritten by Les Bohem and John Gatins. The movie is being produced by Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg and ImageMovers troika Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey. Shawn Levy, who signed on just a few weeks ago is also a producer. His recent projects include the Fox comedy "Date Night" with Steve Carell and Tina Fey.

Anthony Mackie was classically trained at the Julliard School of Drama. He starred as Tupac Shakur in the Off-Broadway production of Up Against the Wind and made his Broadway debut opposite Whoopi Goldberg in August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. He played the lead in Regina King's modern retelling of Chekov's The Seagull, starred in Stephen Belber's McReele at Roundabout and starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Soldier's Play. Mackie was part of the August Wilson's 20th Century at the Kennedy Center where they performed staged readings of all 10 plays in August Wilson's play cycle, and he starred in the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Bacchae. On film, he played Eminem's nemesis, Papa Doc, in 8 Mile. His performance caught the attention of Spike Lee, who subsequently cast him in Sucker Free City and She Hate Me. He also appeared in Clint Eastwood's Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, as well as in Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate, alongside Denzel Washington and Liev Schreiber, and the comedy The Man, starring Samuel L. Jackson. Mackie earned IFP Spirit and Gotham Award nominations for Brother to Brother, which won the 2004 Special Dramatic Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards. His films also include Heavens Fall, We Are Marshall, Half Nelson with Ryan Gosling, Crossover; Haven, opposite Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton, Freedomland starring Samuel L. Jackson, The Hurt Locker (Independent Spirit and Gotham Award nominations), the Notorious BIG biopic, Notorious, as Tupac Shakur, Eagle Eye, Bolden!, Night Catches Us, and he is currently filming The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.

Hugh Jackman won a 2004 Tony Award, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards for Best Actor in a musical for his portrayal of the 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Previous theater credits include Carousel at Carnegie Hall, Oklahoma! at the National Theater in London (Olivier Award nomination), Sunset Boulevard (MO Award - Australia's Tony Award) and Disney's Beauty and the Beast (MO Award nomination). From 2003 through 2005 he hosted the Tony Awards, winning a 2004 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program. Most Recently, Jackman starred on Broadway in 'A Steady Rain' opposite Daniel Craig in the fall of 2009.

On screen, Jackman made his first major U.S. film appearance as Wolverine in the first installment of the X-Men franchise, a role he reprised in the enormously successful X2 and 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand. Most recently, he reprised his role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine which serves as a prequel to the popular series and grossed an outstanding $85 million domestically in its first weekend of release in May 2009. In late 2008, Jackman appeared in 20th Century Fox's romantic action-adventure epic Australia directed by Baz Luhrmann. Additional film credits include Deception opposite Ewan McGregor under the banner of his own Production Company, Seed Productions, The Fountain, The Prestige, and Woody Allen's Scoop. In addition, he lent his voice to the animated features Happy Feet and Flushed Away. Other leading roles include Someone Like You, Swordfish, Van Helsing, and Kate and Leopold, for which he received a 2002 Golden Globe nomination.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.