Ali
Short description
Ali is a biographical drama about the boxer Cassius Clay, who won the world heavyweight title from Sonny Liston in 1964 and soon afterward joined the Nation of Islam and took the name Muhammad Ali. The film follows his public career and his private life through the following decade: his marriage to Sonji, his friendship with Malcolm X, his refusal of military service during the Vietnam War, the resulting prosecution and loss of his boxing license, and his return to the ring. It ends with his 1974 challenge to George Foreman in Zaire.
Michael Mann directed the film, his seventh feature after Thief, The Keep, Manhunter, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and The Insider. Eric Roth, Mann and Christopher Wilkinson wrote the screenplay, and Mann produced with Jon Peters and James Lassiter. Will Smith plays Ali, with Jamie Foxx as Drew "Bundini" Brown, Jon Voight as Howard Cosell, Mario Van Peebles as Malcolm X, Ron Silver as Angelo Dundee and Jeffrey Wright as Howard Bingham. The production, made across the United States and several African countries, cost 107 million dollars and returned 88 million dollars worldwide.
Ratings for the film are moderate and consistent: it holds 6.7 out of 10 on IMDb from around 110,000 votes and the same figure on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes, while a critics' rating stands slightly higher at 6.8 out of 10 from 154 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Initially, Barry Sonnenfeld was supposed to direct the film, but he had to leave the project. Spike Lee was then slated to take the director's chair, but ultimately the job went to Michael Mann.
- Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith's actual wife, plays Ali's first wife, Sonji Roi.
- Will Smith initially refused the offer to play Ali. He only agreed after receiving a call from Muhammad Ali himself (1942-2016).
- On June 10, 2016, Will Smith was among those who carried Muhammad Ali's coffin.
- Will Smith and director Michael Mann agreed to work without a fee if the film's production were to exceed the budget.
- Will Smith gained weight for the role of Muhammad Ali, who weighed 95.5 kilograms. To get in shape, he even moved to Aspen, Colorado, where the air is thinner. He would wake up at 6:30 AM, run 8 kilometers, work for three hours in the ring, and then 'pump iron' after lunch. In less than four months, the actor gained 15 kilograms of muscle mass.
- Charles Shafford, a real heavyweight boxer (weighing 106 kilograms) who played George Foreman, was allowed to land genuine punches on the actor to make everything look as realistic as possible.
- Jon Voight spent 6 hours in the makeup chair.
- During the filming of the weigh-in scenes, which took place closer to dawn, Jon Voight collected everyone's cell phones and called all their homes. Some subscribers woke up to the following voicemail message: 'This is Jon Voight calling. Don't worry, your husband is still on set, working, he's not at a bar and he's not flirting with girls.'
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
