Soderberg, Carano in Knockout Pairing

Director Steven Soderbergh has committed to next direct “Knockout,” a spy thriller that will mark the screen starring debut of Gina Carano, the mixed martial arts circuit fighter.

Relativity Media will fully finance, and Soderbergh plans a late January production start. Domestic distribution is expected to be locked quickly.

Soderbergh locked in the film just as his Warner Bros. comedy, “The Informant!,” made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The Matt Damon-starrer opens stateside on September 18.

Scripted by Lem Dobbs, “Knockout” casts Carano as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. The film is a closer cousin to “La Femme Nikita” and “Kill Bill” than “Million Dollar Baby,” in that it doesn’t take place in the fight ring. Rather, Soderbergh considers the film as a flat out action film in the James Bond mold, and will shoot in locations around the world that include Ireland, Turkey and the U.S.

Soderbergh will surround Carano will name actors in supporting roles.

The MMA circuit is where Soderbergh discovered Carano, a lightweight division slugger with movie star good looks. The Muay Thai-trained fighter has compiled a 7-1 record. Though Carano suffered her first loss in a title fight last month, she is considered the face of the fledgling women’s mixed martial arts fighting circuit.

Dobbs previously scripted “Kafka” and “The Limey” for Soderbergh.

The film will be produced by Gregory Jacobs, Soderbergh’s longtime collaborator. Relativity topper Ryan Kavanaugh will also be a producer, and Tucker Tooley is executive producer.

In his deal, Soderbergh waived his upfront salary and will share any ownership stake with Relativity Media.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Steven Soderbergh on this project, which is clearly right in his sweet spot,” said Relativity’s Kavanaugh.

“This deal creates a true partnership between us and Steven, where together we will make a mainstream action film with universal appeal for a reasonable budget, and with the incentives for the studio and filmmaker totally aligned," said Tooley.

Soderbergh, who earlier this summer exited a plan to direct “Moneyball” for Columbia Pictures, most recently directed “The Girlfriend Experience,” a pic that starred Sasha Grey in her first performance in a legit film.

Carano so far has appeared as herself in the docu “Ring Girls” and the Oxygen reality series “Fight Girls.” She also served a stint as Crush on NBC’s “American Gladiators,” and had a role in the upcoming Michael Jai White action film “Blood and Bone.”

Carano is repped by Gersh, manager Scott Karp and attorney Gary Stiffelman, while Soderbergh is repped by manager Michael Sugar at Anonymous Content and attorney Michael Adler.

thats so cool ....i hope this movie is like an indie film and no a big box office ...so that no posers will be like i like gina since the beggining...u know what i mean

I'm happy for Gina, she wouldn't be doing this if she didn't want to. A very interesting direction she's going in, this girl is just full of surprises.

Im actually not that happy about this. I havent seen her part in blood and bone, I dont know how good an actress she is. If you are starring, then youve gotta have quite a few lines. If it turns out she isnt that good at it, shes done for in this business. I wouldve liked to see her in some more supporting roles, building up her acting skills and then going for a lead role. Of course it is a great opportunity either way, one that would be very hard to pass up on. I just hope Gina didnt make a hasty decision, although I cant really see her doing that. I still think she is taking a big risk. Well just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

either way gina still awesome ,,,,,,,i bet she can act

I thought the same thing Bastiaan, completely!

I have faith in her too Alex. But I think (ok, as with most of what I say, I have no experience in it so dont take this for truth) that acting may be a bit like fighting. Gina is an awesome fighter, but even pestova wouldve beaten her if she didnt train for the fight. Although there is a talent factor (as with fighting), you have to train your acting skills. What has Gina done in terms of acting? She mightve had a tiny bit of training, probably not more than a light basic training. To go from that to a lead role in a movie...thats a big step. She will probably need to focus solely on learning how to act for like the next 6 months (or whenever they will start filming) to have her acting skills be acceptable, let alone getting positive reviews from anyone other than horny guys (sorry bout that).

But well see. I really wonder how much talent for acting shes got. If she has very little, she might just reach the acceptable level in time, or maybe not even that. But if she has a lot of talent and takes a lot of lessons, she could do fairly well. Of course I dont know how many lines will be in the movie, maybe she just has to say 10 things, with 8 of em being 3 words or less

yup ....but like i said if she good awesome if she not so good still awesome

Sure, we will still love her. What I am concerned about actually, is that if she is not so good at this moment....will someone else give her another chance like this in a few years time? If she did some supporting roles first, she should get a job like this too (assuming she did well in those). Aww well, Im starting to sound like an old gramps again, never satisfied, always complaining things move too fast.

yeah .............old man

Well, you have a good point there gramps.

In all honesty though, we can't really judge until we see the results. But yeah, I get your point, and I agree with you. Who knows, maybe Gina has been going for acting classes for a while already (anything's possible), or maybe, like you mentioned, she's only going to start now. Whatever the outcome though, it's good to know that her fans will still support her through anything.

Hey, you cant call me gramps. Alex is younger than me, but youre older than me, so if Im a gramps.....

Yeh, of course I support her. I am looking forward to the movie and I hope shes awesome. I know she will be. Just looking out for her is all

I understand, but hey Gina will do what she wants, it's not up to us.

Okay, so then I guess I'll be grandma.

I dont think Gina cares much whether I agree or not, lol

Ah yeh....grandpa and grandma....they have lived a lifetime, seen it all, gathered wisdom over the years. Now they share their stories with the young, claiming they rush things as the world moves by far to fast...

ok exactly ang who are we to decide for what gina will do in her life ....we know she make the right choices for the right reasons

Oh to be young and wise at the same time...

I know that if I got any opportunities, I would take them, no matter what others may think. It's better than looking back over your life one day and regretting not going for it. Maybe that's what Gina likes to do too.

Well said Ang! I was thinking the same thing

yeah u never know what would happen if you didnt try