American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story has now staked a new release date of Christmas Day, bumping back two weeks from its original date of December 10. Even with that adjustment, the theatrical competition is still pretty fierce. Aside from the summer season, the movies are a crowded place during the holidays. While this coming winter remains up in the air with regards to the COVID pandemic, there are still a lot of films on the docket for this holiday season.
American Underdog will now find itself one week away from the highly-anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home, and just three days behind The King's Man, Sing 2, and The Matrix Resurrections. To American Underdog's benefit, however, all of these films are very different and play to vastly different audiences. If the promotional materials thus far are any indication, no film (with maybe the exception of Sing 2), looks to be as inspiring and uplifting as the football biopic.
The release date change appears to truly have been a decision made to align with the holiday spirit, as Joe Drake, the chair of Lionsgate, noted at the film's recent CinemaCon panel. Drake said the following:
"This movie perfectly aligns with the emotions of the holiday season: The power of faith. A drive to bring out the best in all of us. The strength of family. And of course, the height of the NFL championship season. When you take all of that together, the perfect release date for this movie is Christmas day, and that’s where we have decided to date it.”
American Underdog stars Zachary Levi as the titular underdog Kurt Warner, who went from a supermarket stockboy to an NFL superstar and Super Bowl champion. Anna Paquin stars as Warner's wife Brenda, while Dennis Quaid plays NFL coach Dick Vermeil. Andrew and Jon Erwin are directing the picture, and this film appears to fall perfectly in line with their niche of uplifting Christian films. Mark Ciardi, a major producer of sports dramas from Secretariat to Miracle, is also helping to oversee American Underdog.
The full synopsis for the film is as follows:
"American Underdog tells the inspirational true story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), who went from a stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback. The film centers on Warner’s unique story and years of challenges and setbacks that could have derailed his aspirations to become an NFL player – but just when his dreams seemed all but out of reach, it is only with the support of his wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin) and the encouragement of his family, coaches, and teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he already is. American Underdog is an uplifting story that demonstrates that anything is possible when you have faith, family and determination."
American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story will hit theaters on December 25. Check out the poster below:
