Fighting with my Family

About

Tilted Musicals, in collaboration with Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Merchant, Kevin Misher and Birmingham Hippodrome, are developing Stephen Merchant’s 2019 biopic film Fighting With My Family into a musical. With book and lyrics by Olivier award-winning playwright Jon Brittain, Fighting With My Family will feature a bold new soundtrack by Brit Award-winning songwriter Miranda Cooper and Ivor Novello-nominated Nick Coler.

Fighting With My Family was directed and written by Stephen Merchant and premiered in January 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival before being released worldwide in February of the same year. The film follows the extraordinary true story of WWE superstar Paige, played by Florence Pugh. Vince Vaughn played the WWE trainer and Dwayne Johnson featured as himself as well as a producer on the film with Dany Garcia for Seven Bucks Productions.

This new high-energy musical inspired by the beloved film and the extraordinary true story will follow Saraya Knight (aka Paige), a goth outsider who is raised in a chaotic but loving British wrestling dynasty. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity takes her from Norwich to America’s glitzy WWE, she must confront who she really is without her family in her corner. This heartfelt coming-of-age story will feature a vibrant songbook by British songwriter Miranda Cooper who shaped the sound of 2000s British pop music, penning over 30 top ten singles and 4 #1’s for major pop acts including Girls Aloud, Sugababes, Pet Shop Boys, Alesha Dixon and Kylie Minogue.

This will mark the first musical developed and produced by Tilted Musicals, a new production company run by Cooper and UK producer/director Sam Hodges. Tilted Musicals aim to bring together the music and theatre industries’ most exciting writing talent to create original, distinctive and entertaining stories with a fresh, modern sonic. 

Stephen Merchant said: “When we were making the film, I always thought of it like a musical: a young woman from the ‘chorus line’ fighting to get her big break, surrounded by theatrical, larger-than-life characters and huge sweeping emotions. I approached each wrestling match like it was a different dance number, building to a big show-stopping finale. Seeing the film reimagined for the stage feels like the natural next step. The team have captured the humour, grit and heart of the story in a way that feels both faithful to the film and completely fresh.”

Dwayne Johnson said: “Fighting With My Family feels exceptionally well suited for the stage. It’s packed with personal emotion expressed through the dynamic world of wrestling, which has always been about storytelling and connecting with a live audience. Working with Stephen Merchant on the film was a truly special experience, and his brilliant work deserves this new act. As it comes to life musically, I have no doubt it will be an absolute blast for theatergoers.”

Dany Garcia, Seven Bucks Productions’ co-Founder and co-CEO said: “From the very beginning, Fighting With My Family has been about heart, grit, and the unexpected humor life throws at you along the way—the kind of journey that shapes who we become. At Seven Bucks, we’re always building stories that connect on a deeply human level, and this one was made for a live audience. With Jon, Miranda, and Nick involved, we know this musical will not only honor the film but expand the universe of this story in a way that feels both authentic and alive.”

Sam Hodges (Tilted Musicals co-Founder) said: “What I love most about this story is, at its heart, it’s about family – and all the wonderful, messy, contradictory dynamics that exist in every family. It follows in the footsteps of superb British indies like The Full Monty, Billy Elliot, and Everybody’s Talking about Jamie, all of which have made terrific stage musicals. But also, wrestling is pure theatre. It’s as much about storytelling as it is fighting, it’s funny as well as fierce, and more than anything else, it’s about the art of winning a crowd over – the first rule of performance. For all those reasons, it felt like a perfect start for the first of our Tilted Musicals slate to be announced.”