Mixed martial arts star Ronda Rousey has signed on for the lead in the upcoming reboot of the MGM cult classic Road House. Rousey will play a bouncer at a tough Missouri bar, a role made famous by Patrick Swayze in the 1989 original.Rousey has been working on making the move from the ring to the screen recently, with a cameo in The Expendables 3 and featured roles in this years’ Furious 7 and the big-screen version of Entourage. She’s also signed on to play herself in a film version of her biography My Fight/Your Fight over at Paramount. Other projects in the works for Rousey are The Athena Project and Mile 22 with Mark Wahlberg (Deepwater Horizon) which has Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) attached to direct.
Rousey reportedly sought and received the blessing of Swayze’s widow, Lisa Niemi, before agreeing to take on the role. Swayze (Dirty Dancing) passed away of cancer in 2009. Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) may be aiming to direct the upcoming Road House, from a screenplay by Michael Stokes (Crash Bandits), however that isn’t confirmed as of yet. MGM is aiming to start filming Road House in 2016.