Big George Foreman
Short description
Big George Foreman tells the story of the American heavyweight boxer George Foreman, tracing his path from a deprived childhood through an Olympic gold medal and a world heavyweight title. After a near-death experience he leaves boxing behind for the church, but when the people around him face hardship he decides to fight again, eventually becoming the oldest heavyweight champion in history. The film is based on Foreman's life and covers his ring career, his retirement and his return to the sport.
George Tillman Jr. directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Frank Baldwin. It is the sixth feature in his directing career, arriving after The Hate U Give, and chronologically follows Men of Honor, Notorious, Faster and The Longest Ride. Khris Davis plays Foreman, with Forest Whitaker as his trainer Doc Broadus, Sullivan Jones as Muhammad Ali, Deion Smith as his brother Roy, Matthew Glave as broadcaster Howard Cosell and John Magaro as Desmond. The credited cast runs to 86 names.
Produced by David Zelon for Affirm Films, Mandalay Pictures and State Street Pictures, the film cost around 32 million US dollars and took about 4 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from roughly 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.6 from a much smaller group of around 386 voters, a difference reflecting how limited that second sample is.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the scene of the fight with a boxer named Carlos Takam, the main character sends his opponent into a knockout three times before the fight is stopped. In reality, Foreman knocked out his opponent 6 times before the fight was stopped.
- Director George Tillman Jr. did not want to use visually thickening costumes or resort to other similar tricks to show the changes that occurred in the main character between the time he was in his prime and the moment he was over 40 and when he returned to the sport. Filming took place in two stages. First, scenes with Forman at his peak were filmed, and then – those when he was in his fifth decade. The break lasted several weeks. This was necessary for the lead actor, Chris Davis, to gain weight for the second part of the filming period. Davis strictly monitored his daily calorie intake. This was due to his training regimen, but the actor tried so hard to gain weight as provided for in the script that he gained a significant amount.
- The fight scene with Muhammad Ali in Zaire in the 8th round was filmed over 30 times to accurately convey on screen the famous right-left-right combination of punches.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
