With customary deft marketing footwork, The Weinstein Company has dropped the first trailer of its upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal drama in time to whet appetites before the summer release.

The versatile Gyllenhaal has piled on the muscle for his role as a boxer fighting for custody of his daughter, in sharp contrast to his gaunt appearance in last year’s acclaimed Nightcrawler.

Maybe this will be the performance that earns the widely admired Gyllenhaal his second – yes folks, only his second – Academy Award nod after Brokeback Mountain back in 2006.

That said, Gyllenhaal has quite the year lined up and will also be seen in potential awards contenders Demolition and Everest.

Antoine Fuqua directs Southpaw, which also stars Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, boxing legend Victor Ortiz and Miguel Gómez.

The Weinstein Company has set a July 31 release and handles international sales.

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