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Ice Cube and Charlie Day aren’t two actors that you’d immediately pair together - but the more and more you think about it, the more it makes sense that the irascible rapper and the Sunny ball of energy would make for quite the on-screen duo. And it turns out that New Line Cinema think the same way, because the studio have signed the pair up for Fist Fight.

Deadline were the first to report that Ice Cube and Charlie Day are on-board for the comedy. Fist Fight will see Charlie Day star as a mild-mannered English teacher who is challenged to a fist fight by his colleague, Ice Cube. Why does Cube’s character want to punch Day so bad? Because he is adamant that Day is trying to get him fired.

The film is actually pretty far along in the pre-production process already. The script, which comes from Evan Susser and Van Robichaux, is believed to be complete. This will be the writing team’s first feature film that reaches the big-screen, however, they’ve honed their craft on a number of shorts, and they even created the rejected FX pilot What’s Going On? With Mike Mitchell. Meanwhile, the producers are currently holding meetings with potential directors already. They’re hopeful that a deal can be finalized with Charlie Day and Ice Cube as well as they’re eventual director within the next few weeks, as they’ve even ear-marked September as the start date for filming.

The tone of Fist Fight is rumored to have been inspired by Three O’Clock High, the cult high-school comedy from 1987. Three O’Clock High, which itself was inspired by the 1952 classic western High Noon, revolves around a high school student who accidentally offends a bully and then spends all day trying to avoid the impending fist fight at three o’clock.

https://youtu.be/pjLqimENb1A

Both Ice Cube and Charlie Day have proven that they possess amusing screen presences over the last few years. Cube has lit up both 21 and 22 Jump Street, as well as Ride Along, while Day has provided laughs in Horrible Bosses & 2, Pacific Rim, and The LEGO Movie. In fact, just the mere thought of Ice Cube hounding down Charlie Day is enough to raise a smile.

New Line Cinema’s potential speedy turn around suggests that Fist Fight could be shot by the end of the year, and if it is we should see it at some point in 2016.