Will Smith’s Football Drama ‘Concussion’ To Premiere At AFIPosted by Wilson Morales
September 30, 2015
Source: Variety
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that the football drama Concussion, starring Will Smith will be the Centerpiece Gala of AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi. The honored event will take place at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on Tuesday, November 10.
The film is based on the David vs. Goliath journey of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of football-related brain trauma in a pro player and fought to bring awareness to the public. In his search for the truth behind the devastating malady, Omalu’s quest humanizes the price paid by professional athletes in impact sports but also by people who challenge the status quo as it exposes the political, cultural and corporate interests that fuel the business of sports.
Concussion also stars Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Arliss Howard, Hill Harper, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Paul Reiser, David Morse and Albert Brooks.
“AFI Fest is the perfect stage to unveil ‘Concussion’ and we are privileged to have been chosen as the Centerpiece Gala,” Ridley Scott and Giannina Scott said. “‘Concussion’ is a powerful and uncompromising film about an issue that was ignored for far too long and continues to play out today.”
“‘Concussion’ is a great American immigrant story,” Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, said. “An outsider, whose greatest aspiration is to belong, takes on an American corporate Goliath at incredible personal risk. His only weapon is the knowledge that he is right and his belief that in America, truth will prevail.”
Written and directed by Peter Landesman, the film is based in part on the GQ article “Game Brain,” written by Jeanne Marie Laskas. The producers include Ridley Scott, Giannina Facio, David Wolthoff, Larry Shuman and Elizabeth Cantillon with David Crockett and Michael Schaefer executive producing.
Concussion hits theaters on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
