Rachel Morrison’s “Flint Strong, which was pushed back last year to August 9, 2024, has been retitled “The Fire Inside.” This film is such a mess.
It was written by “Moonlight” helmer Barry Jenkins. Morrison is a cinematographer known for her work on “Mudbound” and “Black Panther.” In 2016, Universal hired Jenkins to adapt the documentary “T-Rex.” Three years later, Morrison hopped on-board as director.
The film started production in early 2020 and was halted in March when COVID shut down the industry. Universal offloaded the film a year later, only for MGM to pick it up. In October 2021, actor Ice Cube was let go of his services after he refused to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Filming finally resumed in 2022. It then poorly test-screened in October of 2022, and consequently had reshoots in November and December of that year.
This release date of August 2024 is an indicator that the film will not be going to TIFF or Sundance — which was its best chance at nabbing any kind of festival premiere.
The film tackles the true story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields as she trains to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Shields was recently ranked as the world's best active female middleweight by BoxRec, as well as the second-best active female boxer, pound for pound, by ESPN.
The cast includes Brian Tyree Henry, Judy Greer and Ryan Destiny as Shields.