In Conor McGregor’s acting debut, he punches Jake Gyllenhaal through the window of a van - what else could you ask for in a movie?
That’s only one part of a wild scrap that makes up the majority of the trailer for the upcoming Amazon film ‘Road House’. It's directed by Doug Liman, who was calling the shots for the ‘Bourne’ movie franchise, and is a remake of the 1989 film of the same name featuring Patrick Swayze.
Gyllenhaal plays an ex-UFC fighter who’s found himself getting in street fights and sleeping in his car. He gets asked to become a bouncer at a roadhouse in the Florida Keys before discovering that an Irish madman is there to fuck shit up.
The OG movie is remembered as a cult classic, particularly because Swayze - who died in 2009 - smashes his performance in it. Gyllenhaal worked with him on the incredible 2001 movie ‘Donnie Darko’ and reckons he was a great bloke.
“He was always so loving and lovely to me,” Jake said on Good Morning America in 2022.
“I take that all to heart in playing the role and there are some things I take from him, but generally we made a whole new movie and I'm really excited about it. They're big shoes to fill, but Patrick was a friend when he was here.”
‘Road House’ will drop exclusively on Amazon Prime on March 21st, which the director isn’t too happy about.
Liman wrote a guest piece for Deadline about how Amazon, who bought film distributor MGM in 2021, screwed him over. He was expecting a theatrical release but they decided to only release it on their streaming service, so he's boycotting the film's premiere.
“Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas,” he wrote, “and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures.”
Honestly, everything Conor McGregor has done in the last five years has seen controversy, so why wouldn’t his first-ever movie (even though the drama has nothing to do with him)?
