Dwayne Johnson wrestling film to be made into stage musical
By BBC, April 22, 2026Fighting With My Family, the 2019 film starring Florence Pugh and Dwayne Johnson, is being adapted as a stage musical, producers have confirmed.
The film followed the true story of British pro wrestler Saraya Knight, known in the ring as Paige, as she built her career and made her way to WWE.
Johnson, whose own production company is collaborating on the musical, said the story “feels exceptionally well-suited for the stage”.
The Hollywood star said that making the film with director Stephen Merchant had been a “truly special experience”, adding: “His brilliant work deserves this new act.”
The film was inspired by a 2012 Channel 4 documentary called The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, which followed Knight and her brother and parents, who are also professional wrestlers.
Her father, Patrick, is known in the ring as “Rowdy” Ricky Knight, while her mother, Julia, uses a variety of stage names, including Sweet Saraya – the same name they gave their daughter.
The new stage adaptation is being masterminded by Tilted Musicals, the production company run by Girls Aloud songwriter Miranda Cooper and producer Sam Hodges.
Cooper told BBC News the musical will be “not just for wrestling fans – we want it to go way beyond that”, adding that the subject matter lends itself well to the stage.
“Wrestling is so theatrical, you’ve got your heroes and villains, it’s all about storytelling, and everyone is playing a heightened version of themselves in the ring,” she said.
“But watching the film and the documentary, the themes are so much about family, community and belonging. They are off-the-wall characters, but there’s so much love.”
About the musical
The musical was the brainchild of Jon Brittain, who will write the adaptation, with a soundtrack composed by Cooper and Nick Coler.
The pair are best known for their work with songwriting outfit Xenomania, who wrote songs for Sugababes, Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys and Girls Aloud.
Florence Pugh starred in the film as Paige, a goth outsider who is raised in a chaotic but loving British wrestling dynasty.
An exciting opportunity ultimately takes her from her home in Norwich to the world of WWE in the US.
Along the way, Paige and her brother Zak have a chance encounter with Dwayne Johnson, who plays himself in the film and offers the pair advice on their careers.
Johnson, who also served as a producer on the film, was a hugely successful wrestler known as The Rock for many years before he pivoted to a career as a box office star.
Hodges tells BBC News that director Merchant was “incredibly enthused from the beginning” about the idea.
“He has been phenomenally supportive and generous, sharing scripts and things that didn’t make it into the movie, sharing his videos of experiences with the family it’s based on,” he explained.
Wrestling is set to reach a wider audience in the next few years – the leadership team at WWE changed after the company was purchased by Endeavour in 2023. “So there’s this whole machine there, and they’re wanting to essentially create a Marvel-like franchise of WWE stuff,” Hodges noted.
“But here in the UK, Netflix has bought the rights to WWE, so wrestling is back on British television in a way it hasn’t been for 25 years, so it’s an interesting moment for people’s access to wrestling and their relationship with it in this country.”
The film has a dedicated fanbase but was not necessarily a huge hit, so the musical will have to appeal to new audiences.
Hodges said the team are effectively “going to be treating it as an original musical” and thinks carefully about “how we build the brand of the show – we’re not assuming people have seen the movie”.