First, he became the NFL's greatest quarterback of all time, and now his next goal is to become the greatest actor of all time. Okay, not really, but, following his recent retirement from the league he dominated for almost two decades, it appears Tom Brady is wasting no time starting his next chapter in life - acting in movies where he stars as himself.
Brady has been cast both to star in and produce the upcoming road trip film for Paramount titled 80 for Brady, a film inspired by a true story about four friends who go on a road trip to see Brady and the New England Patriots square off against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51. Anyone who's familiar with that game knows that it's one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever played, so it's only fair to assume that the film itself will probably be somewhat thrilling from that alone.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Brady was heavily involved with the film's conception from the get-go, so of course, he needed some acting giants to ensure everything regarding the production goes swimmingly. Joining Brady as the film's leads will be acting veterans including Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Jane Fonda. At the directing helm will be Kyle Marvin, who also co-wrote the script with Michael Covino.
This upcoming project should excite sports fans everywhere, seeing how we've seen some of the most well-received sports films ever released over the last few years, such as American Underdog and I, Tonya, in part because they were based on true stories. Fans should also be thrilled because 80 for Brady involves one of the greatest sports icons of all time. Plus, Brady's demonstrated his skills as a producer through the well-received series about his career titled Man in the Arena.
If Brady is anywhere as good of a producer as he was a quarterback, then this film should be yet another quality installment for the genre. At this point, that might just be expected, and not because of Brady's involvement. In general, the sports movie genre has produced quite a few solid films since the turn of the 20th century due in part to a fair amount of them being re-tellings of actual events. Not all of them are about the team to playing to win, but what goes on behind the scenes. Even better, they've explored various avenues of various sports that haven't been touched on before.
That's because previously, some sports movies have suffered from being both predictable and formulaic. That's because they all built up to the same climax - winning on the highest level. Because recent sports movies dwelled on something that the ones that came before did not, its given the genre some fresh material. Of course, no one should expect a movie like this to be Oscar-worthy. It just has to not fall into the same cliches that lesser sports movies have fallen into.
80 for Brady is reportedly set to start filming in the spring of 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter