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National Champions

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National Champions 2021 poster 1

National Champions is a 2021 American sports drama film directed by Ric Roman Waugh. It is based on the play of the same name by Adam Mervis and stars Stephan James, J.K. Simmons, Alexander Ludwig, Lil Rel Howery, Tim Blake Nelson, Andrew Bachelor, Jeffrey Donovan, David Koechner, Kristin Chenoweth, Timothy Olyphant, and Uzo Aduba. The plot centers around a star college football quarterback who begins a players strike hours before the National Championship game.

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

Storyline[]

Plot[]

A star quarterback ignites a player's 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.

Genres[]

  • Drama
  • Sport

Motion Picture Rating[]

  • 12 (Poland)
  • R (USA)

Images[]

Cast and Crew[]

Director[]

  • Ric Roman Waugh

Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)[]

  • Adam Mervis

Cast[]

  • Stephan James - LeMarcus James
  • J.K. Simmons - Coach James Lazor
  • Alexander Ludwig - Emmett Sunday
  • Lil Rel Howery - Coach Dunn
  • Tim Blake Nelson - Rodger Cummings
  • Andrew Bachelor - Taylor Jackson (as Andrew Byron Bachelor)
  • David Koechner - Richard Everly
  • Jeffrey Donovan - Mike Titus
  • Kristin Chenoweth - Bailey Lazor
  • Timothy Olyphant - Elliott Schmidt
  • Uzo Aduba - Katherine Poe
  • Russell Wilson - Self
  • Malcolm Jenkins - Self
  • Mike Greenberg - Self
  • Steve Levy - Self
  • Michael Smith - Self
  • Jemele Hill - Self
  • Michael Holley - Self
  • Taylor Rooks - Self
  • Nick Wright - Self
  • Karl-Anthony Towns - Self
  • French Montana - Self
  • Jaden Begnaud - Luke
  • Julian Horton - Orlando Bishop
  • Mark Anthony Brooks - Scotty
  • David Maldonado - Kevin McDonald
  • Steven Van Tiflin - Cornelius
  • Sarah S. Fisher - Cathy Levy
  • Tony Winters - Wes Martin
  • Therry Edouard - Cecil Burgess
  • Tre Hale - Roc Meredith
  • Thomas Francis - Bob Reynolds
  • Reg Rob - Assistant Coach
  • Sarah Elumbaring - Cleaning Lady
  • Jontavious Johnson - Wyatt
  • Dean J. West - Brett (as Dean West)
  • Ned Yousef - Felipe
  • Adam Mervis - Bartender
  • Jason Bayle - Fan
  • GiGi Erneta - Reporter
  • Casey Ferrand - Reporter

Other Cast (in alphabetical order)[]

  • Fabian Blache III - Booster (uncredited)
  • Carl A. Chauvin - Dive Bar Patron (uncredited)
  • Suzette Lange - Booster Member (uncredited)
  • Tedrick Martin - Booster / Investor (uncredited)
  • Joshua Moody - Press Conference Journalist (uncredited)
  • Brandon Pettis - Hotel Guest (uncredited)
  • Mark Titus - Self (uncredited)
  • Kasia Trepagnier - Wolves Fan (uncredited)
  • Calvin Williams - Booster (uncredited)

Producers[]

  • Therese Andrews (co-producer)
  • Brendon Boyea (producer)
  • Greg Economou (producer)
  • Jonathan Fuhrman (executive producer)
  • Matthew Helderman (executive producer)
  • Basil Iwanyk (producer)
  • Christian Mercuri (executive producer)
  • Adam Mervis (executive producer)
  • Robert Simonds (executive producer)
  • Michael Smith (executive producer)
  • Jeffrey Stott (executive producer)
  • Luke Taylor (executive producer)
  • Ric Roman Waugh (executive producer)
  • Russell Wilson (executive producer)
  • Bill Wohlken (executive producer)

Details[]

Country[]

  • USA

Language[]

  • English

Release Dates[]

  • December 10, 2021 (Canada)
  • December 10, 2021 (Indonesia)
  • December 10, 2021 (Poland)
  • December 10, 2021 (USA)

Trailer Release Date[]

  • November 16, 2021

Home Media Release Dates[]

  • March 8, 2022 (USA) (DVD)
  • March 8, 2022 (USA) (Blu-Ray)

Also Known As[]

  • National Champions (original title)
  • National Champions (Canada)
  • National Champions (Germany)
  • National Champions (India)
  • National Champions (Indonesia)
  • National Champions (Netherlands)
  • National Champions (Philippines)
  • National Champions (Poland)
  • Национальные чемпионы (Russia)
  • National Champions (Singapore)
  • 내셔널 챔피언스 (South Korea)
  • National Champions (Turkey)
  • National Champions (United Arab Emirates)
  • National Champions (UK)
  • National Champions (USA)

Production[]

National Champions was first announced on April 27, 2021, when it was reported that Stephan James and J.K. Simmons would star in the film. In May 2021, Uzo Aduba, Alexander Ludwig, Andrew Bachelor, David Koechner, Tim Blake Nelson, Timothy Olyphant, Kristin Chenoweth, Jeffrey Donovan, and Lil Rel Howery were added to the cast. Principal photography began on May 17, 2021, in 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 originally scheduled for release on November 24, 2021, but was later rescheduled to December 10, 2021.

Reception[]

Box office[]

As of February 5, 2022, National Champions has grossed a worldwide total of $475,488 against a production budget of $8 million, thus making the film a box office flop.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released in 1,197 theaters on December 10, 2021. Boxoffice Pro 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 weekends, the film earned $34,818 in 898 theaters for an average of $38 per screen.

Critical response[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 64% of 56 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "National Champions is well-acted and timely, even if it undercuts its own effectiveness with cheesy dialogue and gimmicky plot twists." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On IMDb, the film has a rating of 5.6/10. Audiences polled by PostTrak gave it an average score of 63%, with 45% saying that 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 that film instead. Writing for The New York Times, Glenn Kenny said that "the movie dilutes its impact with lackluster direction of samey scenes - people in hotel rooms speechifying - and a distracting nighttime soap subplot". The Chicago Reader's Adam Khatib wrote, "While not a perfect film, National Champions does express the discourse around an important issue in a compelling way."

Company Credits[]

Production Companies[]

  • STX Entertainment
  • CAA Media Finance
  • BondIt Media Capital
  • Capstone Group
  • Game1
  • Thunder Road Pictures
  • New Legend Entertainment

Distributors[]

Special Effects[]

  • Alchemy 24 (visual effects)

Technical Specs[]

Runtime[]

  • 116 mins

Color[]

  • Color

Aspect Ratio[]

  • 2.35:1

Trivia[]

  • The entire movie was filmed at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans.
  • Stephan James and J.K. Simmons previously appeared together in 21 Bridges (2019), which was also released by STX Entertainment.
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