NORWICH — Tilted Musicals is adapting the 2019 film Fighting With My Family into a stage musical, with workshops scheduled later this year and first public performances targeted for 2027. Dwayne Johnson's production company is collaborating on the project, which follows the true story of British professional wrestler Saraya Knight, known in the ring as Paige, as she built her career and made her way to WWE.

The production is being led by Tilted Musicals, the company run by songwriter Miranda Cooper and producer Sam Hodges. Jon Brittain will write the book, with a soundtrack composed by Cooper and Nick Coler, who are best known for their work with the songwriting outfit Xenomania.

The 2019 film starred Florence Pugh as Paige, a goth outsider raised in a British wrestling dynasty based in Norwich, alongside Johnson, who played himself and served as a producer. The film was inspired by a 2012 Channel 4 documentary, The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family, which followed Saraya Knight, her brother Zak, and their parents, who are also professional wrestlers. Patrick Knight performs as "Rowdy" Ricky Knight, and Julia Knight performs under personas including Sweet Saraya.

Cooper said the adaptation is intended to reach audiences beyond wrestling fans. "Not just for wrestling fans – we want it to go way beyond that," she said. "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 added. "But watching the film and the documentary, the themes are so much about family, community and belonging. They are kind of off-the-wall characters, but there's so much love," Cooper said.

Hodges said Johnson had contributed materials from the film's development. "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," Hodges said. "We're not assuming people have seen the movie," he added.

Johnson said the story was well suited for the stage and that the film director's work deserves this new act. "No doubt it will be an absolute blast for theatergoers," he said.