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Warner Bros. cast fighter in 'Athena Project' and 'Entourage' movie
After watching Ronda Rousey successfully defend her UFC Women’s bantamweight title in December, Warner Bros. seems to see major crossover potential in the UFC fighter, signing her for two high-profile projects.
The studio is in final negotiations to acquire rights to New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor’s “Athena Project” with Rousey attached to star, and it’s also tapped her for one of the female leads in the upcoming “Entourage” movie.
Rousey is currently training for her next fight: On Feb. 22 she will defend her title against Sara McMann at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Rousey will begin shooting her role in the “Entourage” movie in mid-March.
It is unknown what she will do following the “Entourage” shoot since her next fight following McMann has not yet been set. But as “The Athena Project” is still looking for a writer, it’s likely that Rousey will be back in the gym prepping for her next bout.
While the “Entourage” gig gives Rousey a recognizable property through which to get noticed for her acting, “The Athena Project” could give her a possible franchise and perhaps the chance to become the female action star Hollywood is lacking.
The story follows a top secret, all-female Delta Force counterterrorism team code named the Athena Project that is sent in to hunt and kill a master terrorist after a bombing in Rome kills 20 Americans. Trouble ensues once the team realizes there’s more at play than a simple bombing.
Since she never discusses outside business while she trains for her next fight, Rousey had to be introduced to Thor over the phone during her shoot for “The Expendables 3″ in September.
Sources say Rousey fell in love with the book and also quickly clicked with author Thor, attaching herself to the project before it even had a studio involved. After the studio approached her reps about doing the “Entourage” movie, the studio was also interested in other things she may want to work on given the great word of mouth from “The Expendables 3″ and “Fast and Furious 7″ shoots.
That’s when “The Athena Project” was brought up; the following day, the studio put in a bid for the novel. Warners sees the property as a potential franchise that could appeal to both men and women.
The studio will now look to attach a writer to the pic.
In September, Rousey shot both “The Expendables 3″ and “The Fast and Furious 7″ and continued to train for her rematch with Miesha Tate on Dec. 31. Since she is unable to train with the same high intensity while shooting a film, Rousey had to go into overdrive to meet the standards of strength and stamina to fight at a championship level.
Rousey, who is repped by WME, her coach Edmond Tarverdyan and lawyer Dave Feldman, can be seen next in “The Expendables 3,” which bows Aug. 15.
Thor is the author of such titles as “Black List,” “The Apostle,” “Path of the Assassin” and “Blowback.” His books have been published in 25 languages.
Ronda is a total badass and I look forward to seeing her in the movies.
I’d rather watch Mischa Tate.
lol nah just kidding, I adore Ronda and I wish her the very best. I hope you kick Mischa’s ass in your next fight Ronda!
I wish Rhonda the best of luck, but I also hope she takes some acting classes. There’s no question that she can fight.
Ronda is so awesome, this is great news!!
Hollywood needs her and Gina Carano.
Can’t wait to see all her work.
Go get um tiger!!
U little hottie
i saw that whole season of TUF too, and the only ‘bullying’ ronda did was when she kicked team tate out of the gym as it was time for their session to finish. the rest of her emotional interactions with tate were reactions to shit either miesha or her lil bitch of a boyfriend bryan caraway had said or done while filming the show, or prior to it – it’s no secret that there’s bad blood between rousey and tate – and if you were really an MMA fan and not just a protato rousey hater, you’d know that tate and co were both the intsigators and perpetuators of the beef
- dana white even said so himself on more than one occasion
your prejudice also seems to be affecting your eyes, as the reason ronda was booed after beating tate in their rematch was because she refused to shake tate’s hand – something which is perfectly understandable given their history, and best summed up by ronda herself:
“i cant shake the hand of somebody who spits on my back”
in response to your question about ronda gettting more movie roles, again there must be something wrong with your eyes – ronda is fit, attractive, disciplined, and capable of making movie fight scenes appear far more realistic than all those other female actors who arent olympians and/or UFC champions (gina carano excluded, but she’s another rare exception)
as well as these obvious facts (as opposed to mere opinion), the very article you comment on states:
“..the studio was also interested in other things she may want to work on given the great word of mouth from “The Expendables 3″ and “Fast and Furious 7″ shoots.”
..so she is obviously both professional AND popular on set, while she was in the presence of other professionals – you know, people who create things rather than whine about shit on the interweb
following from that, if you watch ANY interview with ronda when she’s not standing next to tate, you’ll see that she makes a very positive impression – which is part of the reason she is already much more than merely an MMA superstar
ronda rousey is a genuine, strong, outspoken, passionate and positive young female role model, which makes her rarer than rocking horse shit in this age of tongue wagging and circle twerking, and somebody fucking special indeed
even the media recognises this, as she tests well across the spectrum of demographics – in short, she’s the goldmine that the goose what lays golden eggs lives in
as for the ‘villain’ angle, many people love to hate other individuals or fictional characters, which is part of way the WWE and other soap operas still have an audience – i’d even put money on a hater like you seeing every single movie ronda rousey ever makes
AWESOME! As a long-time MMA fan and RR fan — I am psyched! Those abs could lead in any movie! I hope she and Gina Carano both succeed in the movies as strong, independent women!
I’m sure she will do great things in the years to come! She Rocks in my eyes, what a woman!!
Did no one at WB do their homework and realize most MMA fan hate Rousey and want to see her lose?
She’s not “hated” so much as she’s polarizing. MMA fans either love her or hate her. Also btw she’s only really ever had serious personal issues with Miesha Tate and Cris Cyborg. She was perfectly respectful to Liz Carmouche, was respectful to Sarah Kaufman outside of one interview, was respectful to Cat Zingano when they were scheduled to fight, and she’s been respectful to Sara McMann. She just has a burning hatred for Miesha Tate it seems.
Polarizing sells tickets and PPVs by the way.
WWA that way —–>
Oscar is being grouchy! She is the hottest girl in the ring and we want to see her in movies! Can’t wait for EXPENDABLES!!!!
yeah because only MMA fans watch movies and television
*rolls eyes*
also i think ‘most’ is an overstatement
I have a clue because I’m an MMA fan. When Rousey coach the ultimate fighter against Tate, she showed herself to be an angry, uneducated bully. That’s why the crowd booed her at the end of her last fight and why Dana White even calls her one of the “villains” of the UFC.
And why cast her if her only popularity is with MMA viewers unless you hope to tap into that audience, smart guy?
For the record, her acting career will be VERY short lived. Check back, boys, and I’ll give you a “toldyaso.”
Most MMA fans love Ronda. Get a clue Oscar!