The NFL Gives its Approval for Major Motion Picture, “Week 14”.
Acclaimed writer and director Ron Shelton has gotten the rare green light on his football based script from the NFL. This means that he can actually use real teams and real logos in his latest sports related project, a movie focused on the last three weeks of the football season.
PG-13? REALLY?
It’s not all good news, the NFL mandates the movie must be rated PG-13. Previous classic football movies, such as Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday” failed to get the NFL’s approval because the nature of the content was too graphic. We were then forced to watch a movie about fictional teams with hokey uniforms and even hokier names. The Last Boy Scout suffered the same fate which becomes an unnecessary distraction through the film.
Maintaining a PG-13 rating could be a huge challenge for Shelton. Shelton’s previous successful sports movies which include Tin Cup, Bull Durham and White Men Can’t Jump have all been R-rated. Previews of the script that was approved by the NFL describe it similar to the movie “Crash” with multiple story lines that will be seen from the viewpoints of the players, coaches, owners and their families.
The project is creating a lot of interest from studios and Shelton would like to begin filming in Feb. 2013 after the super bowl. Another huge drawback is the limitations of American Football. Hollywood movies are one of the last domestic products that generate huge sums of money overseas but American Football will severely limit this films overseas appeal. This will effect which studio picks up the project and the size of the productions budget which in turn could limit casting.
As good as this can be, it’s hard to imagine the intensity of the NFL being capture on the big screen with a PG-13 rating. The NFL itself should be rated R. With domestic violence, steroids, illegal hits, drugs, alcohol, adultery and illegal gambling, I’m still not sure how Shelton will pull it off, but his past successes in this genre make him the perfect man for the job.
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