Queen of the Ring | |
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Directed by | Ash Avildsen |
Screenplay by | Ash Avildsen |
Based on | The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend by Jeff Leen |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Andrew Strahorn |
Edited by | Craig Hayes |
Production company |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Queen of the Ring is an upcoming American biographical sports drama film written and directed by Ash Avildsen. It is about Mildred Burke, and stars Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Kelli Berglund and Walton Goggins.
The film chronicles the life of revolutionary female wrestler, Mildred Burke.
The film is written and directed by Ash Avildsen, inspired by the 2010 book The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend by Jeff Leen, and Burke's own manuscripts. [1] Jim Ross is executive producer on the film. Aimee Schoof and Isen Robbins of Intrinsic Value Films and TV are producers on the film. [2]
Principal photography took place in Louisville, Kentucky. [3] In July 2023, the film received dispensation to continue filming during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. [4]
In May 2023, Emily Bett Rickards was cast as the lead in the film as Mildred Burke while Josh Lucas was cast as Billy Wolfe. At this time, Marie Avgeropoulos was cast as Babe Gordon. [5]
In June 2023, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood and Deborah Ann Woll joined the cast, [6] with Gavin Casalegno cast as Mildred's teen age son Joe later that month. [7] Charlotte Flair and Liv Morgan had to withdraw from their roles as June Byers and Clara Mortensen due to scheduling and injury issues, respectively, and were replaced by NWA Women's Champion Kamille and AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm. [8] In June 2023, Trinity Fatu joined the cast. [9] Kelli Berglund was cast in August 2023, having previously also played a wrestler on the television series Heels . [10]
Solofa Fatu Jr. is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring names Rikishi and Fatu with the WWE and also competed under the variety of names in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names The Tonga Kid and Tama and with World Championship Wrestling as The Samoan Savage.
Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including The Shield (2002–2008), Justified (2010–2015), Vice Principals (2016–2017), The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present), Invincible (2021–present), and Fallout (2024–present). He was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his work on Justified, and then later for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Fallout.
Mildred Burke was an American professional wrestler. She is overall a three-time women's world champion under different incarnations and recognitions.
Stephen Adam Amell is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on the CW superhero series Arrow (2012–2020), based on DC Comics. Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along with reprising his role in various video games. Following the conclusion of Arrow, Amell landed the lead role of Jack Spade on the Starz drama series Heels (2021–2023).
Deborah Ann Woll is an American actress. She played Jessica Hamby in the HBO drama series True Blood (2008–2014), which earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is also known for her role as Karen Page in the Marvel series Daredevil (2015–2018), The Defenders (2017), The Punisher (2017–2019), and Daredevil: Born Again. Her film roles include Mother's Day (2010), Seven Days in Utopia (2011), Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011), Catch .44 (2011), Ruby Sparks (2012), Meet Me in Montenegro (2014), The Automatic Hate (2015), and the commercially-successful Escape Room (2019) and its 2021 sequel. In 2022, she provided the voice and motion capture of Faye in the video game God of War Ragnarök.
Trinity Fatu is an American professional wrestler and dancer. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Naomi.
Kelli Berglund is an American actress. She is known for portraying Bree Davenport in the Disney XD series Lab Rats/Lab Rats: Elite Force and also guest starred in its spinoff Mighty Med. In 2014, she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie How to Build a Better Boy, where she portrays Mae Hartley. Berglund starred as Carly Carson in the 2019 Starz television drama series Now Apocalypse. She has also played the lead in two sports-themed films set in Australia, 2016's Raising the Bar and 2018's Going for Gold. She stars as Crystal in the 2021 Starz drama television series Heels.
Emily Bett Rickards is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Felicity Smoak on The CW series Arrow, her first television credit. She has also reprised the role in the Arrowverse shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and voiced the character on the animated web series Vixen.
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"The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak" is the fifth episode of the third season, and fifty-first overall episode, of the American television series Arrow, originally broadcast on The CW. Based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, the series follows the story of billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen, portrayed by Canadian actor Stephen Amell, who returns home after five years supposedly stranded on a Pacific island, featuring flashback sequences to his time away. The series is part of the Arrowverse franchise, alongside spin-off shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman and other associated media. This episode is notable as the first Arrow episode to feature flashback sequences centered entirely on a character other than Oliver Queen, focusing instead on the backstory of the character Felicity Smoak, played by Emily Bett Rickards. The episode was written by Ben Sokolowski and Brian Ford Sullivan and directed by Michael Schultz. It premiered in the United States on The CW on November 5, 2014.
Felicity Megan Smoak, also known by her code name Overwatch, is a fictional character in The CW's Arrowverse franchise. The character was first introduced in 2012 in the first season of the television series Arrow, which is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. The series follows the story of billionaire Oliver Queen, who returns home after five years supposedly stranded on a remote Pacific island and becomes a vigilante on a quest to save his city. Felicity is based on the comic book character of the same name, created by Gerry Conway and Rafael Kayanan and was adapted for television by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. Felicity was portrayed by Canadian actress Emily Bett Rickards between 2012 and 2020. Initially cast as a one-episode guest star in the first season of Arrow, she returned as a recurring character in the same season, and was promoted to series regular from season two. Rickards stepped away from the show at the end of season seven, but returned in a guest capacity for the finale of Arrow's eighth and final season. She has also featured in the spin-off shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and web series Vixen, as well as appearing in Supergirl. The character appears in the Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham video game as part of the Arrow DLC pack, and is one of the protagonists of the Arrow and The Flash tie-in novels and comics.
Jacob Samuel Fatu is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is a member of The Bloodline stable. He is also known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a one-time MLW National Openweight Champion and a one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion, the latter being the longest reign in the title's history at 819 days.
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Fallout is an American post-apocalyptic drama television series created by Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the role-playing video game franchise created by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, the series stars Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Xelia Mendes-Jones, and Walton Goggins.
NWA EmPowerrr was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and held on August 28, 2021, as the first of two PPV events to take place from the Khorassan Ballroom of the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was broadcast on FITE TV, and was the NWA's first all-women's professional wrestling event, consisting solely of matches in their women's division. The card also featured wrestlers from partner promotions, such as All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Impact Wrestling, and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA).
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