Walk Like A Panther shooting now

Comic Dave Johns is to star in a new comedy movie about British wrestling called Walk Like A Panther.

The story revolves around a group of 1980s wrestlers who are forced to don the lycra one last time when their local pub is threatened by closure.

I, Daniel Blake star Johns and Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Graham play a father-and-son duo who lead the ‘unlikely bunch of underdog heroes’.

The ensemble cast also includes Jill Halfpenny, Sue Johnston, Lindsey Coulson, Julian Sands, Jason Flemyng, Stephen Tompkinson, Michael Socha and  Scroobius Pip.

Filming is currently under way in Yorkshire, and director and writer Dan Cadan told industry website Screen Daily: ‘This is not a film about wrestling as a sport; it’s more a film about wrestling with life.’

Chortle first reported on Walk Like A Panther in 2011, when it was being touted as a sitcom starring Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan.

Walk Like A Panther will be Johns’s second film after winning acclaim in I, Daniel Blake. He has also signed up to Two Graves, a ‘neo-noir’ thriller set in the North East of England, playing a  shipyard nightwatchman.

This is not the only wrestling film in the pipeline: The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant is working on Fighting With My Family, based on the story of British WWE wrestler Paige, and co-starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

Published: 31 May 2017