Tilted Musicals, in collaboration with Seven Bucks Productions, Stephen Merchant, Kevin Misher and Birmingham Hippodrome, are developing Stephen Merchant’s 2019 biopic film Fighting With My Family into a new stage musical.
The original film, written and directed by Merchant, was based on the true story of WWE superstar Paige and starred Florence Pugh, with Dwayne Johnson appearing as himself and serving as a producer alongside Dany Garcia.
The musical will feature a book and lyrics by Olivier Award-winning playwright Jon Brittain, with a bold new soundtrack written by Brit Award-winning songwriter Miranda Cooper and Ivor Novello-nominated composer Nick Coler.
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 added: “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.”
Miranda Cooper and Sam Hodges, co-founders of Tilted Musicals, said: “What we 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 projects to be announced.”
Inspired by the film and the extraordinary true story, the musical will follow Saraya Knight, a goth outsider raised in a chaotic but loving British wrestling family, who is propelled from Norwich to the dazzling world of WWE in the United States and forced to discover who she is without her family beside her.
Closed workshops will take place later this year ahead of a planned public presentation in 2027, with further details to be announced.
More information can be found here.
