Justin Baldoni to Produce Gina Rodriguez’s Boxing Movie ‘House of Guerrero’ for Her Directorial Debut

Justin Baldoni is stepping into the ring alongside former co-star and longtime friend Gina Rodriguez for a new indie film.

Rodriguez is set to make her feature directorial debut with boxing movie House of Guerrero. The project, which has a script from Bernardo Cubría (Acapulco), is currently in preproduction and has not yet announced any castmembers.

Producers for House of Guerrero include Scott Budnick and Ameet Shukla for 1Community, Molly Breeskin for Rodriguez’s I Can And I Will Productions banner, and Baldoni and Andrew Calof for Wayfarer Studios. Wayfarer Studios, 1Community, HarbourView Media Group and Clare LoCicero are co-financing the movie that has tax credit financing from Three Point Capital.

Based on an original story from Rodriguez and Cubría, House of Guerrero centers on a once-promising young boxer as he aims to return to the ring and reclaim the life he hoped to achieve. Clayton J. Barber (Creed III) and Eric Brown (John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum) are leading fight choreography for the film.

Executive producers include Steve Sarowitz and Jamey Heath for Wayfarer and Sherrese Clarke and Niija Kuykendall for HarbourView Media Group, in addition to LoCicero and Alice S. Kim. UTA Independent Film Group is handling worldwide sales.

This marks the first collaboration between Baldoni and Rodriguez since they played onscreen love interests Jane Villanueva and Rafael Solano on the ABC series Jane the Virgin. House of Guerrero is also the first major project that Baldoni has announced since he and Blake Lively reached a settlement in the legal battle that stemmed from their time on set together for Sony’s 2024 hit It Ends With Us.

Baldoni took to Instagram to share a video of himself hugging Rodriguez on the first day of preproduction for House of Guerrero. “Hey Director @hereisgina Day 1,” Baldoni captioned his post, adding a boxing glove emoji. “God is good.”

“Directing this film feels like the beginning of a new chapter in a story I’ve been carrying with me my entire life,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I’ve been boxing since I could walk, and I’m on a mission to show the world what fighting can teach you about life, if you let it. To have the opportunity to make my directorial debut here in California, surrounded by an extraordinary cast and crew, is both incredibly emotional and deeply humbling. At a moment when Latino stories, Latino families and Latino heroes deserve to be seen and celebrated more than ever, I feel an enormous responsibility to tell this story with honesty, heart and pride. I’ve dreamed about this film for so long, and I truly cannot wait to step into the ring and bring it to life.”

In his own statement, Baldoni added, “Having spent five years working with Gina every day, I’ve had a front-row seat to her genius, both in front of and behind the camera. She’s a rare talent with an incredible gift for telling stories that reach people on a deeply human level. Boxing is in her blood, and so is a deep passion to center Latino characters and experiences that rarely get to be at the heart of their own films. We started Wayfarer to tell stories that make a difference, stories that connect us back to our hearts, to each other and remind us of our shared humanity. This deeply personal story will do exactly that, and we couldn’t be more proud to support Gina as she brings this film to life.”