Stephen Merchant, who co-wrote and directed The Office with Ricky Gervais, is to take the reins on a forthcoming comedy drama about British wrestler Paige. Fighting with my Family will star Lady Macbeth lead Florence Pugh as the young ring-tosser, alongside former WWE star Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, who also executive produces.
Shooting starts in London and Los Angeles later this month; the film is a co-production between WWE Studios and Film4. Merchant is also writing as well as directing; his first big screen outing since 2010’s Cemetery Junction, on which he collaborated with Gervais.
Paige (real name Saraya-Jade Bevis), now 24, was born into a family of wrestlers in Norwich; her mother kept up the bouts unwittingly well into her pregnancy. A two-time Divas Champion and the inaugural NXT Women’s Champion, she made her debut aged 13 after her father, who was running the show, asked her to step in for a wrestler who had failed to show up.
A documentary about Paige and her family was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2012; she has also appeared in three WWE Studios films: Santa’s Little Helper, Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon and Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania.
Johnson will soon be seen in the big-screen transfer for small-screen classic Baywatch, as well as the latest in the Fast and Furious franchise. Last year he topped Forbes’s list of the highest-earning actors.
