Nicolas Cage and rapper 50 Cent will team up on the big screen for The Dance, a film based on the life of prison boxing coach Billy 'The Kid' Roth.

Once a successful prizefighter, Roth has spent more than 40 years as a volunteer boxing coach in Louisiana state prisons.

Cage will play Roth, while 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, will play an inmate the coach believes has the talent to be a contender - the only hindrance being that he is serving a life sentence.

The project is based on a 2003 documentary that Cage executive produced with hopes of turning it into a feature film.