THE FIRE INSIDE Trailer (2024) Ryan Destiny, Boxing Movie

THE FIRE INSIDE Trailer (2024) Ryan Destiny, Boxing Movie

THE FIRE INSIDE Trailer (2024) Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Drama, Sport, Boxing Movie
© 2024 - Amazon MGM Studios

“What you think about girls’ boxing?” The man asking that is Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), the coach of a boys’ boxing club in Flint, Michigan. It’s 2012, and five years before he’d allowed one girl to join his club (even though it was against protocol): a coiled 11-year-old scowler named Claressa Shields, played by Jazmin Headley and then, as she grows up, by Ryan Destiny.

Claressa, the heroine of “The Fire Inside,” has the dogged determination to pummel her way into the ring. It’s not as if she talks her way in — Claressa, as we learn, doesn’t say much. She speaks with her fists. And one of the reasons she’s so brilliant at using them is that, by her own admission, she likes to hit people. She’s a bully, and owns it. She’s coming from a place of severe hardship: father behind bars, a selfish, at times mean party-loving single mother (Oluniké Adeliyi) who can’t seem to keep her family out of poverty. Not to mention the no-hope vibe of a depressed community. What everyone is telling Claressa is that the only direction she can punch is sideways.

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Jason, the coach, is asking about girls’ boxing because he’s addressing what an alien concept it is, at this point, to most of the world. As moviegoers, of course, we may not feel that way. The concept of girls’ boxing seemed revolutionary back in 2000, when Michelle Rodriguez starred in “Girlfight,” Karyn Kusama’s gripping drama about a troubled Brooklyn high schooler who channels her aggression into the ring. But that was a long time ago, and the story told by “The Fire Inside” is one of victory and fame. In 2012, when she was 17, Claressa Shields, with her nickname of “T-Rex,” became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. Four years later, she repeated the feat and became the first American woman boxer to win consecutive Olympic titles.

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Given her relative youth, we expect a story of ferocity and grit, of the unstoppable rise of a boxer who turns out to be a piston-pounding dynamo. “The Fire Inside” gives us that catharsis; it’s a real rouser. Yet the film is rooted in a sobering grasp of the trauma that can be the flip side of triumph. The arc of the drama is built around an enormous curveball it throws at the audience. And that’s when the movie really gets good.

“The Fire Inside” is the first feature directed by Rachel Morrison, the celebrated cinematographer who shot “Fruitvale Station,” “Mudbound,” and “Black Panther,” and in this movie what she extends from her signature lensing is a quality of no-frills reality that’s very New Hollywood. Watching “The Fire Inside,” you can taste the sunset coldness of the Flint winter, along with the despairing drabness of Claressa’s home, where there’s never enough in the cupboards. Most of all, you connect to what a surly and daunting personality Claressa is.

It’s not that she’s “dislikable.” It’s that the up-and-coming actor Ryan Destiny does a mesmerizing job of reining in and redirecting her vibrance, so that we can see how Claressa’s spirit has turned in on itself. Claressa is a girl of few words because she knows exactly where her words will get her — not far. The bond she forms with Jason, the coach, is one of respect threaded with antagonism. You may think that Brian Tyree Henry has played this sort of role before — the down-home nobility, the impulse that’s supportive in a disgruntled way. But what he does this time is emotionally bracing. Jason, in glasses and a goatee, is a mild soul who’s in over his head. He’s not a professional; he’s a security guard who moonlights as a coach. And he realizes that the only way he can handle a hurricane like Claressa is to do his best to funnel and guide her energy. Yet she needs him. When she lands a spot at the 2012 Olympic trials in Shanghai, Jason can’t afford to accompany her on his own dime. And his absence throws her.

The sports-movie genre has more or less primed us for one thing: winning. But here’s the enticing trick that “The Fire Inside” plays on us. Claressa’s relentlessness in the ring is undeniable. The fight scenes are thrilling, because Ryan Destiny makes you feel the destruction she’s channeling. And when she comes out on top, winning that first gold medal, we feel the catharsis we want to feel, even as we’re thinking, “Wait, the movie is only half over. Where can it go from here?”

A Black teenager rises up from the doldrums of Flint to be an internationally celebrated star of the Olympics. Could there be a downside to that? It is this. Claressa plans to continue her career as a boxer, which she can absolutely do. But part of what she wants is for her success to translate into — wait for it — monetary value. She’s achieved greatness, she’s achieved fame, she has made America proud. So where is her payoff?

Olympic celebrity athletes make money with endorsement deals. But there are none for Claressa. The sponsors walk up to her and then walk away. Why? Because those deals are all about companies peddling an image they believe will appeal, and even in the 2010s, the image of a woman beating the holy hell out of people in the boxing ring is considered officially offputting. “What you think about girls’ boxing?” The corporations that control the purse strings don’t like it.

“The Fire Inside” pivots from being a sports drama to a sports parable of American marketing, like “Air.” But “Air,” of course, wasn’t just a movie about the selling of a shoe. It was about race, about the inner meaning of Michael Jordan’s superstardom, about the value we place on a particular athlete and why. Marketing is one of the metaphysical billboards of our culture; in its capitalist way, it reflects equality and justice. So when Claressa goes on a crusade to become an endorser of products, and to equalize the stipends for women boxers in training for the Olympics, this isn’t just something she’s doing alongside boxing. It’s a form of boxing. She’s pounding her fist into the system, trying to bust it apart. And Ryan Destiny’s performance becomes heroic. We see how that scowl of Claressa’s, her refusal to coddle anyone, and nothing less defiant than that, is the very thing she needs to win this battle.

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‘The Fire Inside’ Review: Ryan Destiny Gives a Powerfully Gritty Performance in a True-Life Boxing Drama That’s Like ‘Girlfight’ Meets ‘Air’
Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (World premiere), Sept. 8, 2024. MPOA rating: PG-13. Running time: 109 MIN.
Production: An Amazon MGM Studios release of a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production. Producers: Elishia Holmes, Barry Jenkins. Executive producers: Lyn Lucibello Brancatella, Rachel Morrison, Claressa Shields, Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari, Sue Jay Johnson.
Crew: Director: Rachel Morrison. Screenplay: Barry Jenkins. Camera: Rina Yang. Editor: Harry Yoon. Music: Tamar-kali.
With: Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry, Oluniké Adeliyi, De’Adre Aziza, Jazmin Headley, Chrystian Buddington, Teanna Weir.
MGM brings the story of boxing champion Claressa Shields to the big screen in “The Fire Inside,” a biopic due out on Christmas Day. The film stars “Grown-ish” star Ryan Destiny as Shields and is directed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison in her feature directorial debut.

Destiny demands the viewer’s attention in the movie’s first trailer. The film tells the story of Shields’ journey from her hometown of Flint, Michigan, to the Olympics — and what happened after her success, when she was forced to grapple with the pressure of providing for her family.

Shields, who at 17 as the youngest boxer at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012, won gold medals at both the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She was also the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing at the Games.

She went pro after the 2016 Games and joined the Professional Fighters League in 2020. Shields made her debut as a mixed martial arts athlete in June 2021.

The movie premiered at TIFF on Sunday. “To see the auditorium filled with 1,000s of people warmed my heart! To see all of the cast, directors, writer, the entire crew put so much time & perfection into my my life story was so surreal! @ryandestiny portraying me was the best I could ask for! You do not want to miss the WORLD PREMIERE 12/25 in theaters all over the World!!!” Shields wrote on Instagram.

“The Fire Inside” was written by Oscar-winning “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins, who also produced the movie alongside Elishia Holmes. Shields received an executive producer credit along with Morrison, Lyn Lucibello Brancatella, Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari and Sue Jaye Johnson.

The movie also stars Jazmin Headley, Kylee D. Allen, Brian Tyree Henry, De’Adre Aziza, Chrystian Buddington, Maurice Wayne Anglin, Teanna Weir, Idrissa Sanogo, Taytem Douglas, Olunike Adeliyi, Adam Clark, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Nendia Lewars, Sekhai Jayden Smith, Chidubem Rafael Echendu, Sarah Allen and Lanette Ware.

Barry Jenkins‘ scripts sure do pack a punch.

Boxer biopic “The Fire Inside,” written and produced by Academy Award winner Jenkins, debuted to stellar reviews out of TIFF. The feature brings boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields’ life story to the big screen and marks “Mudbound” and “Black Panther” cinematographer Rachel Morrison‘s directorial debut. Morrison made cinematic history as the first-ever woman to be nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar.

Newcomer Ryan Destiny portrays Shields, with Academy Award-nominated actor Brian Tyree Henry cast as her coach.

The film, per the official synopsis, tells the “inspirational true story of Claressa Shields (Destiny), arguably the greatest female boxer of all time. Claressa, a high school Junior from Flint, Michigan, aided by her tough-love coach, Jason Crutchfield (Henry), pushes past all limitations to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. But even at the pinnacle of success, Claressa has to reckon with the fact that not all dreams are created equal, and the real fight has only just begun.”

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The release of “The Fire Inside” is fittingly during an Olympics year, as Shields made history as the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Shields was only 17 years old at the time. She later won a second gold medal in women’s middleweight boxing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

Shields’ life story was featured in 2015 boxing documentary “T-REX” directed by Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper. “The Fire Inside” was originally set at Universal after the studio acquired Shields’ life rights and rights to the “T-REX” documentary in 2016. The project was first titled “Flint Strong” and drew comparisons to “Rocky.” Jenkins was first rumored to direct when the project was announced in 2016.

Screenwriter Jenkins produces “The Fire Inside” along with Elishia Holmes. Director Morrison, the real-life Shields, Lyn Lucibello Brancatella, Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari, and Sue Jaye Johnson all executive produce.

The IndieWire review credited breakout star Destiny for embodying all facets of Shields.

“Becoming an Olympic athlete isn’t all sunshine and roses, and Jenkins’ script doesn’t scrimp on the challenges Shields faced: family concerns, an Olympic machine that doesn’t allow Jason to accompany her, and expectations around what it means to be a ‘female athlete’ in a world that tends to like them cute, plucky, and not exactly punching people,” the review reads. “Destiny’s performance, balancing Claressa’s grit and her heart, does plenty to make ‘The Fire Inside’ audience root for it, and her.”

“The Fire Inside” premieres in theaters December 25 from Amazon MGM Studios. Check out the trailer below.

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"What happened to staying true to who you are?" Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the official trailer for The Fire Inside, formerly known as Flint Strong, telling the story of boxer Claressa Shields as trains to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics. This recently premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival this fall, and it will open in theaters on Christmas Day in December at the end of this year. "To change everything, she gave everything." The Fire Inside is story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, a boxer from Flint, Michigan who trained to become the first woman in her country's history to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport. It's based on the documentary called T-Rex, and features a screenplay written by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins. It's directed by cinematographer Rachel Morrison. Ryan Destiny as Claressa, Brian Tyree Henry as her trainer Jason Crutchfield, with Oluniké Adeliyi and De'Adre Aziza. TIFF says: "Destiny gives a stunning performance as Shields, weaving between grounded and intense as she tries to shake off her precarious reality." This looks like your standard underdog sports biopic with some Flint pride thrown in. 🥊

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Rachel Morrison's The Fire Inside, direct from MGM's YouTube:

The Fire Inside Poster

The Fire Inside Poster

Via TIFF: "Young Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny) sneaks into a boxing gym, eager to spar with the boys. Local volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) quickly takes her under his wing. Claressa proves fiercely talented but soon Crutchfield must go beyond the duties of a coach to keep her on track as she starts to feel not just the pressure of winning, but also the glare of her beleaguered hometown of Flint, Michigan seeking hope in her resilience... You're quickly rooting for Claressa's ascent to the Olympics but also forced to confront the crushing disappointment when things don’t turn out. All the while, Henry keeps us in the fight with a performance that finds warmth and patience amid the frustrations." The Fire Inside, formerly titled Flint Strong, is directed by talented American cinematographer turned filmmaker Rachel Morrison, making her first feature film after directing eps of the series "The Morning Show", "Hightown", "American Crime Story", and "The Mandalorian" previously. The screenplay is written by Barry Jenkins. It's produced by Michael De Luca, Barry Jenkins, Elishia Holmes. MGM Studios will debut The Fire Inside in theaters nationwide starting December 25th, 2024, on Christmas Day, at the end of this year. Look good?
With 2024 being an Olympic year, we learned about plenty of inspiring stories of the athletes that made their way to Paris, but another inspiring tale of a past Olympic gold medalist is coming to the big screen with The Fire Inside, a 2024 new movie from some of the most respected creatives in the movie business, Rachel Morrison and Barry Jenkins.

The duo teamed up to tell the story of Claressa Shields, a boxer from Flint, Michigan (the movie had a working title of Flint Strong at one point), who became the first American woman to win gold at the Olympics for the sport. But of course, there is more to her incredible story than just that.

As we await to learn more about it, here is everything you need to know about The Fire Inside.

The Fire Inside release date
The Fire Inside is arriving as a Christmas gift for movie fans, as the movie will premiere in US movie theaters on December 25; it's unclear at this time if the movie will be released at the same time in the UK.

Amazon and MGM Studios, which are producing The Fire Inside, hope they'll have the same kind of success with The Fire Inside that they did with The Boys in the Boat, another sports drama that was released around Christmas in 2023.

The Fire Inside cast
The Fire Inside is going to be led by a main pair, one a potential breakout and another a well-established, Oscar nominee.

Playing Claressa Shields is Ryan Destiny, who is best known for her role on the TV series Star, though she has also appeared in multiple episodes of the sitcom Grown-ish and was part of the cast of the 2023 horror movie Oracle. She has also appeared in multiple music videos for Justin Bieber and Doja Cat.

Starring alongside Destiny is Brian Tyree Henry as Shields' coach, Jason Crutchfield. Henry earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in 2022's Causeway, but he is also known for starring in multiple big franchises, including Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Marvel's The Eternals and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as well as his breakout role in the TV show Atlanta. Henry is also set to star in the animated 2024 movie Transformers One.

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Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside(Image credit: Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM Studios)

Ryan Destiny in the Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny in the Fire Inside(Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)

Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside(Image credit: Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM Studios)

Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside(Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)

Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside(Image credit: Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM Studios)

Brian Tyree Henry, Rachel Morrison and Ryan Destiny on set of The Fire Inside
Brian Tyree Henry, Rachel Morrison and Ryan Destiny on set of The Fire Inside(Image credit: Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM Studios)

Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside
Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside(Image credit: Sabrina Lantos/Amazon MGM Studios)

The Fire Inside plot
With a script written by Barry Jenkins, here is the official plot of The Fire Inside:

"The Fire Inside is the inspirational true story of Claressa Shields, arguably the greatest female boxer of all time. Claressa, a high school Junior from Flint, Michigan, aided by her tough-love coach, Jason Crutchfield, pushes past all limitations to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. But even at the pinnacle of success, Claressa has to reckon with the fact that not all dreams are created equal, and the real fight has only just begun."

The Fire Inside reviews
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the first slate of reviews for The Fire Inside have been shared and so far the word is resoundingly positive. As of September 12, The Fire Inside has a 100% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Fire Inside trailer
Watch the The Fire Inside trailer directly below:

THE FIRE INSIDE | Official Trailer - YouTubeTHE FIRE INSIDE | Official Trailer - YouTube
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Rachel Morrison movies
Directing The Fire Inside is Rachel Morrison. She made history as the first woman nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar for her work on Black Panther, though she was behind the camera as a cinematographer for other notable movies like Fruitvale Station, Dope and Mudbound.

While The Fire Inside will mark the first time Morrison is directing a feature film, she has directed a number of episodes of popular TV series, including The Morning Show, American Crime Story: Impeached and The Mandalorian.