Knockout Goes Haywire
The Playlist reports (via Dark Horizons) that Steven Soderbergh's all-star spy thriller Knockout, starring mixed martial arts sensation Gina Carano, has undergone a title change. Instead of being known by the undeniably cool (and appropriate) title of Knockout, it will now be known by the decidedly forgetable and generic title of Haywire, for reasons presumably known only to the director and the studio, Lionsgate. Oh well; I'm still looking forward to it. To compensate for his star's lack of acting experience, Soderbergh has stocked the supporting cast with top-tier talent including Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton and Mathieu Kassovitz. If those names alone weren't already enough to get spy fans excited, there are also the requisite exotic locations, which include Barcelona, Dublin and New Mexico... all of which (entirely coincidentally, I'm sure) offer significant tax breaks for filming... but are still cool settings! Knockout, er, Haywire (ugh), is set to bow in January, with an eye to that post-Oscar season Taken money.