Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: lionsgate, Torsten Ruether, Uppercut

Uppercut Director on Remaking German Boxing Film, Casting & More

Director Torsten Ruether spoke to Bleeding Cool about remaking his German boxing film 'Leberhaken' into Lionsgate's 'Uppercut,' Rhames & more.

When writer and director Torsten Ruether conceived the German original Leberhaken in 2021, it started as a short before it developed into a feature. As it drew the attention of Lionsgate, Ruether had the rare opportunity to revisit and expand the project, now called Uppercut, while bringing back the film's original star, Luii, in the process. The film follows Toni (Luiii) trying to make her mark as a boxing manager for Payne (Jordan E. Cooper), reflecting on her own boxing training from legend Elliott (Ving Rhames). Ruether spoke to Bleeding Cool about the spark that inspired the film, casting around Luiii, if there was any interest in bringing back Leberhaken star Hardy Krüger Jr. into Uppercut, and how he expanded the film and his next project.

Uppercut Director Torsten Ruether Breaks Down Ving Rhames-Luiii Boxing Drama

Bleeding Cool: What was your inspiration for the original 2021 film?

It was a showreel scene [laughs]. The actor, a great guy called Hardy Krüger Jr, the son of the late Hardy Krüger, wanted a new showreel scene to present himself to the casting directors. He asked me whether I could write him a few scenes and then direct them. I said, "Yes, okay," it was during COVID. It was the first scene I wrote was that desperate, disillusioned boxing coach, and he liked it so much that he said, "Okay, why don't we do a movie out of this?" Luiii, who is now playing in 'Uppercut' and she played in 'Leberhaken,' also said because she was the protégé in that scene. She also asked, "Why don't we do a movie out of this?" With one and a half pages, a movie can't be made, so I checked it out and began to write the script. That was the momentum where this whole movie and this story came to life. It ended up being a festival opener, and later, it came to the U.S. as 'Uppercut.'

What goals did you set in revisiting 'Uppercut' for 2025?

The first goal, which was non-negotiable for me, was that it should keep the intensity of the two people in the boxing gym. Intensity was first, and the meaning should still be curiosity. It should still be how people who come from totally different worlds can approach each other and get into a certain kind of communication. The second goal then was for the American audiences to find something that mirrored, especially something interesting for the female character.

We were thinking about showing how all these challenges of our modern times could be mirrored best in such a female character. I was interested in finding a new way to make Toni, the female main character, find a way from being a protege to a successful boxing promoter. That was something where I said, "Okay, it could be a goal," to show two different time layers with two different energies, but also combining this intensive time ticket on the one hand and something that is dynamic on the other hand.

What did it mean to have Luiii return for the film? How did casting come about having Ving Rhames, Joanna Cassidy, and Jordan E. Cooper on the board, and what did they bring to the film?

With Luiii, it was interesting, because she was interested in evaluating this character. I told her I wanted to create something like a transatlantic American European initiative, so we would approach this movie from this side of the Atlantic Ocean. We would combine that once people become interested with some interesting and intense talent on the other side. She gave me a lot of input for that Toni character, especially in terms of what I said recently about the female dynamic and female challenge character.
Ving Rhames, that was a dream coming true, because we were sitting together with a casting director with, Michelle Lewitt, who also worked on 'Transformers.' She goes, "Why don't we check Ving Rhames for the Elliot character?" I go, "Ving Rhames? This would be iconic because I never had the idea to forward this to Ving." She said, "Let's try," and then Ving was in.

I had the idea to check the Broadway scene in New York City. Where this young, wonderful kid, Jordan E. Cooper, was hanging around with his fantastic play. He was the first and the youngest African-American actor ever to have his own play on Broadway, and I was interested in him, sent him the script and said, "I would love you to play a championship boxer," and he said to me, "Okay, I always wanted to do it," and he was in. Joanna Cassidy was a try because we met her at the Oldenburg International Film Festival, where we opened with 'Leberhaken.' I rewrote something for her, which I thought could be interesting, which was that pep talk monologue in the movie. She was also in, so I was lucky with my first offers, and everybody was in.

Was Hardy Krueger interested in returning for this film?

No, we did not consider that because we knew once we produced this movie back again in the United States to finance it. To make it a reality, we knew we needed somebody to play the main part who is a more well-known star in the United States. Otherwise, it would not have worked. So that was not an option for us.

What advantages did you feel you had in this second opportunity to tell the story? What was your most difficult scene to film?

Advantages, we could make it bigger. We had an even more interesting conflict case on the one hand, we had experienced-wise and Methuselah POC boxing coach in a place like Bushwick, New York City. And then this duel with that young second-generation German immigrant. We had a lot more stuff that we could work on. The psychological conflict was far more interesting to write about. We could bring the dialogue to a "tight point."

There were a lot of difficulties. We had the writers' and actors' strike within our shooting period. We had to receive the waiver from SAG-AFTRA to continue shooting, which was a huge challenge. The most interesting challenge of shooting was that I loved it so much that these two actors, Luiii and Ving, began to improvise during filming, and it was for everyone being on the set. For the script and everybody following the story, it is sometimes challenging to find the right way when we have improvisations, which were fascinating to bring them into it, but also to keep the rhythm and color of the story. Sometimes, it was challenging to bring this together, but I'm glad that it worked out.

What is next for you?

We are keen on returning to Los Angeles now, with Uppercut coming to the scene. There's an interesting project that I love very much, which the working title is 'The Italian Restaurant,' because I experienced that all over the globe, 10,000 people in a town or more, you have something like a special Italian restaurant where people gather. Sometimes, every evening, the same guests come in, and you have this business done by an interesting Italian family. I was wondering, "Could we do something that will play in that restaurant with all those conflicts of the guests, with all those conflicts of the owner and the family? I'm interested in bringing this to life, and I hope that it will be possible within the first half of 2025.

Uppercut is available in theaters, digital, and on-demand. You can check out our interview with Cooper.

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