Deadline reports that Dreamworks has picked up a new film project called Southpaw, helmed by Sons of Anarchy creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter. Eminem is proposed for the lead role, as a fast rising boxer that sees his world fall apart after tragedy.

“I took meetings with Marshall’s producing partners over the past 7 years, looking for something to do together,” Sutter Deadline. “I know he’s very selective and doesn’t do a lot. But he shared so much of his personal struggle in this raw and very honest album, one that I connected with on a lot of levels. He is very interested in the boxing genre, and it seemed like an apt metaphor, because his own life has been a brawl. In a way, this is a continuation of the 8 Mile story, but rather than a literal biography, we are doing a metaphorical narrative of the second chapter of his life. He’ll play a world champion boxer who really hits a hard bottom, and has to fight to win back his life for his young daughter. At its core, this is a retelling of his struggles over the last five years of his life, using the boxing analogy. I love that the title refers to Marshall being a lefty, which is to boxing what a white rapper is to hip hop; dangerous, unwanted and completely unorthodox. It’s a much harder road for a southpaw than a right handed boxer.”

The film will be produced by Eminem’s Shady Films’ managers and producing partners Paul Rosenberg and Stuart Parr, along with Alan and Peter Riche of Riche Productions.