Ronda Rousey Is Really Doing This Acting Thing, Lines Up Roles in ‘Entourage’ and ‘The Athena Project’


(Moments later, a tricked-out Mitsubishi Lancer crashed through the window, and Ronda armbarred it. Cut to tasteful sex scene. / Photo via FlicksandBits)

Roles in the The Expendables 3 and Fast and Furious 7 didn’t stop Ronda Rousey from dominating Miesha Tate in December. And so, the UFC women’s bantamweight champ is delving even further into acting, with a pair of major movie projects lined up for 2014.

According to Variety, Rousey has landed a gig as one of the female leads in the upcoming Entourage movie, which starts filming in mid-March. [Ed. note: Please be Turtle’s girlfriend…please be Turtle’s girlfriend…] After that, Rousey is attached to star in a Warner Bros. adaptation of The Athena Project, which is about “a top secret, all-female Delta Force counter-terrorism team…sent in to hunt and kill a master terrorist after a bombing in Rome kills 20 Americans. Trouble ensues once the team realizes there’s more at play than a simple bombing.” Man, isn’t there always?

Though Warner Bros. is still negotiating rights to produce The Athena Project, which currently lacks a script, Variety‘s sources say that Rousey “fell in love with the book and also quickly clicked with author [Brad] Thor, attaching herself to the project before it even had a studio involved.” And here’s one more line from Variety’s report that was interesting:


(Moments later, a tricked-out Mitsubishi Lancer crashed through the window, and Ronda armbarred it. Cut to tasteful sex scene. / Photo via FlicksandBits)

Roles in the The Expendables 3 and Fast and Furious 7 didn’t stop Ronda Rousey from dominating Miesha Tate in December. And so, the UFC women’s bantamweight champ is delving even further into acting, with a pair of major movie projects lined up for 2014.

According to Variety, Rousey has landed a gig as one of the female leads in the upcoming Entourage movie, which starts filming in mid-March. [Ed. note: Please be Turtle’s girlfriend…please be Turtle’s girlfriend…] After that, Rousey is attached to star in a Warner Bros. adaptation of The Athena Project, which is about “a top secret, all-female Delta Force counter-terrorism team…sent in to hunt and kill a master terrorist after a bombing in Rome kills 20 Americans. Trouble ensues once the team realizes there’s more at play than a simple bombing.” Man, isn’t there always?

Though Warner Bros. is still negotiating rights to produce The Athena Project, which currently lacks a script, Variety‘s sources say that Rousey “fell in love with the book and also quickly clicked with author [Brad] Thor, attaching herself to the project before it even had a studio involved.” And here’s one more line from Variety’s report that was interesting:

“While the ‘Entourage’ gig gives Rousey a recognizable property through which to get noticed for her acting, ‘The Athena Project’ could give her a possible franchise and perhaps the chance to become the female action star Hollywood is lacking.”

Huh. The fact that Hollywood lacks a female action star should give Rousey pause, considering that WMMA superstar Gina Carano left MMA for Hollywood herself, and was thought to have breakout potential. And it’s going alright for Gina, relatively speaking. For example, she just had a thrilling performance in some animated GIFs taken from a FOX TV show. In other words, Carano’s acting crossover is still a work in progress…but I’d take minor TV roles over getting punched in the face by Cris Cyborg all day, every day.

Rousey will make her next title defense against Sara McMann at UFC 170, 15 days from now. By all accounts, her training camp is going really well.