''National Champions'' is a 2021 American

sports drama A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the sp ...

film directed by

Ric Roman Waugh Ric Roman Waugh (born February 20, 1968) is an American film director, writer, producer, actor, and former stuntman. He is known for his work in '' Felon'' (2008), ''Snitch'' (2013), and '' Shot Caller'' (2017). He wrote and directed ''Angel Has ...

, based on the play of the same name by Adam Mervis. The film stars Stephan James,

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

, Alexander Ludwig,

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Transportation Security Administratio ...

Tim Blake Nelson Timothy Blake Nelson (born May 11, 1964) is an American actor and playwright. Described as a "modern character actor", his roles include Delmar O'Donnell in '' O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' (2000), Gideon in '' Minority Report'' (2002), Dr. Pend ...

Andrew Bachelor Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

Jeffrey Donovan Jeffrey Donovan (born May 11, 1968) is an American actor. He played Michael Westen in the television series ''Burn Notice'', and appeared in films such as '' Hitch'', '' Believe in Me'', '' Changeling'', and ''Come Early Morning''. He played Ro ...

David Koechner David Michael Koechner ( ; born August 24, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for playing roles such as Champ Kind in the ''Anchorman'' films and Todd Packer on NBC's ''The Office''. Koechner first became involved in perf ...

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

Timothy Olyphant Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...

, and

Uzo Aduba Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba (; born February 10, 1981) is an American actress. She gained wide recognition for her role as Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she won an E ...

. ''National Champions'' was released in the United States on December 10, 2021, by STX Entertainment. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office, grossing less than $500,000 against its $8 million budget.

Plot

A star collegiate quarterback ignites a players' strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation, equality, and respect for the athletes who put their bodies and health on the line for their schools.

Cast

* Stephan James as LeMarcus James *

as Coach James Lazor * Alexander Ludwig as Emmett Sunday *

as Coach Ronnie Dunn *

as Rodger Cummings *

as Taylor Sheridan *

as Mark Titus *

as Richard Everly *

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

as Bailey Lazor *

as Elliott Schmidt *

as Katherine Poe Additionally, Russell Wilson,

Malcolm Jenkins Malcolm Jenkins (born December 20, 1987) is a former American football safety who played for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, earning consensus All-American honors, and winning the Jim ...

Jemele Hill Jemele Juanita Hill (; born 1975) is an American sports journalist who writes for ''The Atlantic''. She worked nearly 12 years for sports conglomerate ESPN. She wrote a column for ESPN.com's Page 2 and formerly hosted ESPN's '' His and Hers''. ...

Mike Greenberg Michael Robinette Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is a television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ESPN Radi ...

, French Montana,

Karl-Anthony Towns Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995), sometimes known as KAT (his initials), is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basket ...

, and Steve Levy all appear as themselves in the film.

Production

On April 27, 2021, Stephan James and

were confirmed to star. In May 2021,

, Alexander Ludwig,

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

, and

were added to the cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on May 17, 2021, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and was scheduled to conclude on June 11. The film was shot on an $8 million budget. Jonathan Sanford composed the film's score.

Release

The film was theatrically released in 1,197 theaters by STX Entertainment on December 10, 2021. It was originally scheduled for release on November 24, 2021. The film was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on March 8, 2022, by

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

Reception

Box office

Boxoffice Pro ''Boxoffice Pro'' is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by BoxOffice Media LP. History It started in 1920 as ''The Reel Journal'', taking the name ''Boxoffice'' in 1931 and still publishes today, with ...

'' projected the film would earn between $750,000 and $2.5 million in its opening weekend. However, the film opened below estimates, earning $301,028 in its first three days and finishing thirteenth at the box office. Men made up 68% of the audience during its opening, with those above the age of 45 comprising 47% of ticket sales. The ethnic breakdown of the audience showed that 49% were European Americans, 15% Hispanic and Latino Americans, 22% African American, and 14% Asian or other. In its second and final weekend, the film earned $34,818 in 898 theaters for an average of $38 per screen.

Critical response

Audiences polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...

gave it an average score of 63%, with 45% saying they would definitely recommend it. Critics generally praised Stephan James and J. K. Simmons for their performances but criticized the story and its attempts at humor. Others noted the blatant product placement and compared the film negatively to '' High Flying Bird'' (2019), recommending viewers watch it instead. Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Glenn Kenny Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for ''The New York Times'' and '' RogerEbert.com''. Biography Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature.Chicago Reader'' Adam Khatib wrote, "While not a perfect film, ''National Champions'' does express the discourse around an important issue in a compelling way."

References

External links

* {{Ric Roman Waugh 2020s English-language films 2020s sports drama films American films based on plays American football films American sports drama films Films about the labor movement Films directed by Ric Roman Waugh Films produced by Basil Iwanyk Films set in New Orleans Films shot in New Orleans STX Entertainment films Thunder Road Films films 2020s American films