Eminem Laces Up Slaughterhouse, 50 Cent & The Weeknd For “Southpaw”

Grammy-winning rapper Eminem is going to treat fans to new music this summer with handfuls of songs on the upcoming Southpaw movie soundtrack.

Em’s Shady Records released the project’s full track listing this week, which shows major collaborations with Slaughterhouse, 50 Cent and The Weeknd.

Watch the “Southpaw” movie trailer on the next page…

Despite early talks for Southpaw to star Slim Shady, Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal ultimately landed the big role previously reserved for Em.

Eminem was once attached to star in the movie, which serves as proof that Hollywood can’t keep a good project down. A fighter of a film, “Southpaw” was originally sold as a pitch to DreamWorks. The studio hired “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter to write the script. When DreamWorks tapped out, MGM swooped in planning to distribute through Sony, though the film was eventually put into turnaround, which is where the Weinstein Company rescued it. If the deal gets signed, Gyllenhaal will play a left-handed prizefighter who wins a title but suffers a tragedy soon after and must put his life back together to earn the respect of his young daughter. (TheWrap)

In 2013, reports about the boxing flick going back into production surfaced.

While there’s nothing set in stone, the next project for director Antoine Fuqua is “Southpaw,” the boxing drama that’s bounced around the development timeline for quite awhile now, and once had Eminem linked to the lead role. Fuqua explains, “‘Southpaw’ was with DreamWorks, that’s when I got the job. Then Em had to go do his music, so we paused it for awhile.” Without confirming whether Eminem is still involved, he says, “I have a great passion for that project, and I met with [Steven] Spielberg about it, and I loved it. The timing of that didn’t work up. And I spoke with Harvey Weinstein, and he loved it from the beginning. So I said, let’s do it. So he went over and talked to them, and Harvey has it now. We’re looking at different casts and I’m looking to be doing that at the end of the summer.” (The Playlist)

A few months prior, buzz about Em and South African rapper Ninja being top prospects for past summer flick Elysium emerged.

Turns out Matt Damon was the third choice for the starring role in Elysium: director Neil Blomkamp had first sought South African rapper Ninja, from the group Die Antwoord, and then Eminem for the lead in his futuristic sci-fi thriller, The Guardian reports. The South African director first approached Ninja, a countryman who is a fan of Blomkamp’s last film, District 9, but the rapper declined. “It was a f*cked up, difficult decision,” he said. Ultimately, Ninja wanted his breakout role as an actor to be something other than the role of an American character in a big-budget film. (Rolling Stone)