Usher plays boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays Leonard’s wife Juanita Leonard, in the upcoming film “Hands of Stone,” starring Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez, in a story that centerc primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by Ramirez).
De Niro plays Duran’s Hall of Fame trainer, Ray Arcel, and Reg E. Cathey plays Don King.
The biopic, written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, includes the “Brawl in Montreal,” the first fight between Durán and Leonard, and the follow-up “no mas” fight, which took place in New Orleans. In the eighth round of that fight, Duran inexplicably quit, saying in Spanish “no mas.” They fought one more time, and Leonard won again.
Ellen Barkin, Ruben Blades and Ana de Armas also star in the film.
“Hands of Stone” will be released by The Weinstein Company on August 26.
A 4-minute featurette that focuses entirely on Usher as Leonard (casting, training, filming, etc) has been released today, and is embedded below. And if you missed them, underneath the featurette you will find a clip featuring both Usher and Smollett-Bell in their respective roles, followed by the film’s previously-released trailer:
