Is Marshall Mathers not destined to become the movie star we all thought he would be, like, 11 years ago?

It appears that being on the silver screen isn't a high priority for the chart-topping and controversial hip hop artist as he's no longer attached to the long in-development sports drama, "Southpaw." The Wrap reports that "Prisoners" star Jake Gyllenhaal is now in talks to take Eminem's place.

"Southpaw" tells the story of left-handed boxer who wins a title but soon after suffers a personal tragedy, forcing him to reexamine and rebuild his life and win the respect of his young daughter. The film itself has been something of a fighter, as it's gone from DreamWorks to MGM to Sony and finally to The Weinstein Company, which will be putting the story in front of cameras under the direction of Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day").

"Southpaw" makes the second high-profile film project that Eminem has bowed out of recently. Before Matt Damon was cast in Neill Blomkamp's "Elysium," the rapper-actor turned it down (for an idea of what the poster might've looked like had Eminem starred in it, look no further than right here).

Eminem was last seen on the big screen playing a rather hilarious version of himself in "Funny People" (2008), and before that he played a less hilarious version of himself in the semi-autobiographical drama, "8 Mile" (2002).

View photos Eminem in '8 Mile' More

Eminem's excellent performance in "8 Mile" as Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith, a struggling rapper trying to break free from his dead-end life in working-class Detroit, had everyone guessing that he was headed for a lucrative Hollywood career. 11 years later, it seems like "8 Mile" was a one-hit wonder. After dropping out of "Elysium" and now "Southpaw," is he just throwing in the towel on being a movie star?

Maybe he's just too busy with his musical comeback to make movies. His eighth studio album, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," is being released next week and has already found success with some hit singles, including "Berzerk" — released in late August and which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 100 — "Survival" and "Rap God." His latest duet with Rhianna, "The Monster," was released earlier this week. The duo previously found massive chart success with "Love the Way You Lie," which was the biggest hit off of Eminem's 2010 album, "Recovery."

Or maybe he's just ... well, gotten too weird to make movies? During halftime of a recent Notre Dame/Michigan football game — during which ESPN aired the world premiere of the "Berzerk" video — Eminem spent the first part of his spot open-mouthed and staring into space before suddenly snapping out of it and claiming that "Live TV freaks me out a little bit."

That might explain his stone-faced silence in the promos for his upcoming musical guest spot on "Saturday Night Live," in which host Kerry Washington and SNL cast member Nasim Pedrad try in vain to get the rapper all riled up. Granted, he later shows off some not-bad comic timing when he deadpans, "I love cupcakes."

Whatever the reason Eminem seems to have turned his back on a film career, we hope he actually does one day find a role in which he can, to paraphrase one of his most popular singles, 'lose himself.' He's basically only ever played variations on his own strong personality — it would be great to see if he can channel all of that energy into a persona that's nothing like his own.

You know, we'd love to see him act one day.

Until then, we have "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" being released on Nov. 5. "Southpaw" is expected to commence with production sometime next year.



Watch Eminem Act in '8 Mile' Scene:

