Rich Franklin Biopic 'American Fighter' In The Works

Source: Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that former UFC middleweight champion Rich "Ace" Franklin will soon join his friend Matt Hamill in having his life story immortalized on the silver screen.

Following the lead set by Hamill's aptly titled and award-winning biopic Hamill, the story of Franklin's evolution from math teacher to self-taught professional mixed martial arts fighter will be captured on film under the title American Fighter.

Currently Double E Pictures' Eric Eisner, who recently co-produced the comedy Hamlet 2, is partnering with Motion Theory's (who get motion graphic credits on Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Story of A Tribe Called Quest) Sean Sorensen to option the rights to Ace's story. The script for American Fighter is currently set to be penned by David Hollander, who wrote the TV movie Rated X and was a regular writer for the TV series The Guardian and The Cleaner.

The 36-year-old Franklin looks forward to seeing the project come to fruition and thinks that the crew backing it will have no problems in pull that off.

"I'm excited to see the story of my career as a fighter brought to the screen, and I feel confident that the team assembled will do a great job in telling this story," Franklin said.

Ace was supposed to face off against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira this month at UFC 133, but the bout was cancelled when Lil' Nog suffered a shoulder injury in training. Franklin's most recent performance resulted in a close decision loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.