Stephen Merchant's 2019 film Fighting With My Family, starring Florence Pugh as WWE superstar Paige, is being adapted into a stage musical. Producers include Merchant, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions, along with Tilted Musicals, Kevin Misher and Birmingham Hippodrome. Closed workshops are planned for this year ahead of a public presentation in 2027.
The musical adaptation follows Saraya Knight, known as Paige, a goth outsider raised in a chaotic British wrestling family. She gets a chance to join America's WWE, confronting her identity away from her family. The story mirrors the film's true account, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and featured Vince Vaughn as Paige's trainer and Johnson as himself. Merchant wrote and directed the original movie. Producer Stephen Merchant said, “When we were making the film, I always thought of it like a musical: a young woman from the ‘chorus line’ fighting to get her big break, surrounded by theatrical, larger-than-life characters and huge sweeping emotions.” He added that reimagining it for the stage captures the story's humor, grit and heart faithfully yet freshly. Dwayne Johnson stated, “Fighting With My Family feels exceptionally well suited for the stage. It’s packed with personal emotion expressed through the dynamic world of wrestling, which has always been about storytelling and connecting with a live audience.” He noted their collaboration on the film was special and anticipates it will thrill theatergoers. Olivier Award-winning playwright Jon Brittain is writing the book and lyrics, drawing from works like Rotterdam and Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder. The soundtrack comes from Miranda Cooper, known for songs with Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Pet Shop Boys, and Nick Coler. This marks the first musical from Tilted Musicals, led by Cooper and U.K. producer-director Sam Hodges.