One-inch Punch - Spec Screenplay - 2024 - (option expired)

 

A retired and battle-damaged fighter is forced to return to the cage and win an impossible tournament to free her abducted daughter.

An action thriller in the style of Warrior meets Taken.

Two-Sheet file:

Michelle Lopez was once a world champion MMA fighter, feared in the cage and admired outside it. But after a brutal injury ended her career and left her with a life-threatening brain condition, she faded into obscurity—reduced to running a rundown gym and struggling to raise her rebellious teenage daughter, Sofia.

When Sofia falls in with a dangerous older man, Frankie Perez, Michelle’s instincts scream trouble—and she’s right. Frankie, tied to the criminal underworld and Michelle’s past, kidnaps Sofia to force Michelle into an underground, no-rules tournament in Mexico. The prize: a million dollars. The cost: her life.

Now, to save her daughter, Michelle must return to the cage—broken body, fractured past, and all. But this time, the punches won’t just hurt. They could kill her.

One-Inch Punch is a raw, visceral underdog action drama with the emotional fire of Million Dollar Baby, the brutal stakes of The Raid, and the redemption arc of Gladiator. It’s about motherhood, sacrifice, and the high cost of survival—told through the bloodied fists of a woman who refuses to go down quietly.

This is a high-impact, character-driven action thriller with strong female leads, emotionally grounded stakes, and explosive, kinetic fight sequences. At its heart, it’s not just a fight for a title. It’s a fight for family.