Friday Night Lights
Short description
Friday Night Lights is set in Odessa, Texas, in 1988, where the local economy is struggling and the town's sense of pride rests almost entirely on its high school football team, the Permian High Panthers. Coach Gary Gaines faces heavy pressure to bring the program back to its winning ways and compete for a state championship. The season begins with the team's star running back, Boobie Miles, leading a string of victories, but when he suffers a serious knee injury, the Panthers lose their most dangerous player. With the town's hopes hanging on the team, Gaines must hold his squad together and find a way forward through the rest of the season.
The film is based on H.G. Bissinger's Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book about the 1988 Permian High season. Peter Berg directed and co-wrote the screenplay with David Aaron Cohen, with Brian Grazer producing. It is the third of the thirteen films Berg has directed, following The Rundown and preceding The Kingdom. Billy Bob Thornton plays Gaines, and the cast includes Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez and Lee Jackson, among eighty-three credited cast members.
Released in October 2004, the film had a budget of 30 million dollars and took in 62 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.2 from around 71,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 6.9 from roughly 649 votes. A critics' rating of 7.3 from 170 reviews places it slightly above the audience score on IMDb and more clearly ahead of the TMDB figure.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is an adaptation of journalist Harry Bissinger's book (1990), 'Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, a Dream,' which contained certain elements of racism and intolerance. The filmmakers contacted the authorities of the city of Odessa, Texas, for permission to film at the school featured in the book. They granted permission, but on the condition that the film contain no hint of racism, so as not to tarnish the images of the school and the city.
- In reality, in 1988 the team lost the state semi-final, not the final.
- Garrett Hedlund gained 9 kilograms for the filming, in addition to the almost 14 kilograms he had gained for Wolfgang Petersen’s "Troy" (2004). He previously weighed just over 60 kilograms, and ended up weighing around 90 kilograms.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
