Ice Cube to Star Opposite Ryan Destiny in Universal’s Boxing Movie ‘Flint Strong’

Ice Cube is set to co-star opposite Ryan Destiny in Universal’s biopic “Flint Strong.”

The sports drama, based on the 2015 boxing documentary “T-Rex,” follows Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (Destiny), a 17-year-old Flint, Michigan native who dreams of becoming the first woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

Cube will play her boxing trainer. He sees the role as a move back into dramatic material like “Boyz in the Hood,” which helped launch his career in 1991. In recent years, he’s made a name for himself in action comedies like “Ride Along” and “21 Jump Street.” Cube had taken a break from acting to focus on launching his basketball league, BIG3, which he founded in 2017. Since the has league taken off, Cube has been working to find his next film projects. He recently was cast on to the musical dramedy “Covers.”

Rachel Morrison will direct the movie, marking her feature film directorial debut. She made history as the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award for “Mudbound.” Morrison also served as the director of photography for “Black Panther.”

Barry Jenkins wrote the screenplay and will produce alongside Michael De Luca and Elishia Holmes under Michael De Luca Productions. Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, who directed the “T-Rex” doc, will executive produce with Sue Jaye Johnson. Universal’s senior executive VP of production Erik Baiers and creative executive Tony Ducret will oversee the project for the studio.