Spin-Off of Tom Hardy’s ‘Warrior’ Still Struggling to Find a Home Says Creator

The long-gestating TV follow-up to Tom Hardy’s 2011 MMA drama Warrior has had a rougher journey than any fighter in the ring. Writer-director Gavin O’Connor, promoting his latest film The Accountant 2, recently shared an update—and it’s a mix of hope and frustration.

Originally set up at Paramount+, the Warrior spin-off, titled Warriors, had a full script ready to go. But in classic Hollywood fashion, the deal fell apart with little explanation. “When we set it up, it was at Paramount+. We wrote a script, and then, for whatever reason, they decided they wanted to go in a different direction,” O’Connor told The Hollywood Reporter. “But I had a script at this point, and it’s very representative of what the series is going to be. It introduces all the characters except for one.”

Refusing to throw in the towel, O’Connor found a second chance at HBO Max. Unfortunately, history repeated itself. “HBO Max then said they wanted to do it, and so we pivoted to HBO Max. And then, for whatever reason, they decided they didn’t want to do it. They were going to go in a different direction. So I need to find a home, man,” O’Connor said.

Despite the setbacks, O’Connor remains passionate about the project, which expands Warrior‘s themes beyond the original movie. “Excluding the movie Warrior, if there’s any project I’ve ever had that is so passionately alive in my bloodstream, it’s this TV series,” he said. In the new concept, the focus shifts to four fighters—two men, two women—each battling not just in the cage, but through personal struggles outside it. “We’re going to explore their stories as they’re on a collision course to fight each other at Sparta.”

Whether or not Tom Hardy or Joel Edgerton would return remains unknown. But the fact that a completed, creator-approved script exists—and still struggles to find a buyer—feels baffling, especially when studios often greenlight projects half-baked.

O’Connor insists the show would offer something TV currently lacks. “There’s nothing like it on television, so hopefully someone can see what I have in my head,” he said. For now, Warriors remains a contender.

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