Following gigs as Superman’s dad and CIA agent, Kevin Costner is back in his wheelhouse: the sports drama, with a touch of humor of course. In “Draft Day”, out April 11, Costner stars as Sonny Weaver, Jr., the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns. Sonny needs to do something big with the first pick in the NFL Draft. His job’s on the line and pressure is coming from all directions: team owner, coach, players, his mother, the media and the fans to make his pick a good one.
Not much of a plot, but that’s not always a bad thing. Early buzz surrounding “Draft Day” is surprisingly strong, and we’re still two weeks away from its release. Regal Cinemas, AMC, /Film, and the studio (Summit Entertainment) have organized a number of advance screenings across the country, as well as special showings of the film for the NFL and its teams.
Papa Johns, one of the NFL’s major sponsors, is running a promotion allowing fans the opportunity to see the movie early and win free pizza for a year. Who doesn’t love that? And the talk show rounds will kick-in over the next two weeks – Costner has already appeared on NFL’s Total Access. He’s said the main reason he did the movie is he believes “it could become a classic.” But it takes a lot for a movie to reach that status and for a sports movie it’s nearly impossible.
The good news is – Costner has already made two sports films which you could argue belong on that short list of “classics”: “Field of Dreams” and “Bull Durham”, both baseball movies. He’s got iconic Hollywood director Ivan Reitman with him on “Draft Day”, so that certainly helps. The ensemble cast of Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Terry Crews, Frank Langella, Ellen Burstyn, and Chadwick Boseman (“42”) is also impressive.
But the Big Question remains: Will Costner fans, movie fans and most importantly, NFL fans, rush out to an “inside football” movie? (This isn’t about touchdowns and the big game). Can “Draft Day” get a similar response to 2011’s “inside baseball” Oscar nominee “Moneyball”? I think it’s got a chance, especially since the studio was able to appeal the MPAA’s original R-rating (given simply for brief language). And the trailer looks very promising.
This year’s real NFL Draft Day isn’t until May 8th. By that time we’ll all know if Costner was able to deliver a winner. My box office prediction – a $22M opening weekend and total domestic score of $65M. But will it be a classic? Too soon to make that call. That’s why they play the games.