The Weinstein Company has today cast light on the latest trailer for Jonathan Jakubowicz’s sports biopic Hands of Stone, and it opens just as you would expect – sweeping crowd shots followed by a montage of two fighters preparing to step into the ring.
The press conferences, the intense workouts, the experienced coach (Robert De Niro, in this case) – it’s all there. But perhaps in an effort to spike interest in Hands of Stone, the snippet veers directly into R-rated territory, first introducing Roberto Durán (Édgar Ramirez) and Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas) going at it like rabbits before shifting focus to the bedroom antics of Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher) and Juanita (Jurnee Smollett-Bell).
It’s a little abrupt, to say the least, and we’re worried today’s decidedly NSFW trailer is a last-ditch attempt from The Weinstein Company to fire Hands of Stone into the spotlight. Hopefully we’re way off base, though, and Jakubowicz’s account of the famed Panamanian icon proves to be a competent, well-rounded feature.
Long before Miles Teller learns to Bleed For This, Jonathan Jakubowicz’s own sports biopic Hands of Stone is on course to light up theaters on August 26.
HANDS OF STONE follows the life of Roberto Duran (Edgar Ramirez), the Panamanian fighter who made his professional debut in 1968 as a 16 year‐old and retired in 2002 at the age of 50. In June 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) to capture the WBC welterweight title, but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in their November rematch, famously saying the words “no mas” (no more).