Director Steven Soderbergh likes to straddle the fence between art and commerce. For every Ocean's Eleven style film that the he makes, he likes to shoot at least one film that isn't a shoe-in for a huge opening weekend.

When news came up last year that the Traffic director was going to direct an action film starring real-life mixed-martial artist Gina Carano called Knockout I didn't really know what to expect. However, now the director has Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas and Dennis Quaid in negotiations to star in the film, it looks like this one is on the side of commerce. Although, having said that, these stars do like their Oscar bait.

Heat Vision Blog reports that the actors are circling the film for co-starring roles, and I'd assume that they'll all sign on the dotted line by the time the film starts shooting next month. Quaid and Douglas previously starred in Soderbergh's Traffic, while McGregor has just acted with Soderbergh's old pal George Clooney in The Men Stare At Goats.Fassbender is coming off Inglorious Basterds and has Jonah Hex on the way.

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According to Heat Vision Blog:

"McGregor would play the owner of the company, a one-time confidant of Carano who switches allegiances.

Fassbender will play a British agent who teams up with Carano but proves untrustworthy while Douglas will play an American executive of McGregor’s company who works with her to take down the company."

It sounds like this really is one to watch. I'm all for a bit of Michael Douglas and Dennis Quaid, while Fassbender really is one to watch for the future. Oh, and McGregor was also in the Star Wars prequels and The Island - scratch that last part!

The film will shoot around the world, starting next month and be released in the US by Lionsgate, with international sales up for grabs at the Berlin Film market.

More on Knockoutwhen we get it.

Source: Heat Vision Blog