The Queen of the Ring will soon have her moment on the big screen. Intrepid members of the Louisville, Kentucky indie film community began sharing the first officially released screenshot from the film Wednesday morning. The image of a tired but determined Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards) first appeared on the movie’s IMDb page and quickly spread on Facebook.
By the end of the day, another scoop started to make the rounds: the film is slated to screen in at the Ft. Lauderdale Independent Film Festival this fall. The same group that shared the photo from IMDb quickly shared the link to the FLIFF website about the movie.
There’s no official comment from the film company regarding the FLIFF. Only the acknowledgement that more details about the film and its release are coming soon.
To say Louisville’s film community is excited about the movie is an understatement. Queen of the Ring employed numerous local actors and crew members during the summer of 2023. Wrestling fans will recognize many background performers in the film from Ohio Valley Wrestling and other indie promotions across the region.
Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jeff Leen, Queen of the Ring tells the story of Women’s World Wrestling Champion Mildred Burke. In addition to Rickards, the film also stars Josh Lucas as Billy Wolfe, Francesca Eastwood as Mae Young, Marie Avgeropoulos as Elvira Snodgrass, Martin Kove as Al Haft, and Walter Goggins as Jack Pfefer.
TOP PHOTO: Emily Bett Rickards is Mildred Burke in Queen of the Ring.
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