Focus Features and Gold Circle have partnered on Bobby Farrelly’s (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”) next feature “Champions,” both companies announced on Monday. Production of the film recently wrapped.
“Champions” is centered around a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is sentenced to community service and forced to coach a Special Olympics team. The film is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film “Campeones” from 2018, which was released by Universal Pictures International.
The film stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin and Matt Cook. Also of note, the film is rounded out by a cast of more than 10 actors with intellectual disabilities who authentically tell the story, including Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens, and Champ Pederson.
“Champions” was directed by Farrelly and written by Mark Rizzo. The film’s producers are Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer and Jeremy Plager. The executive producers are Woody Harrelson, Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Luis Manso, Alvaro Longoria and Javier Fesser.
Focus Features will distribute “Champions” domestically and Universal Pictures will distribute internationally. Joe Toto and Carlen Johnson oversaw the project for Focus Features.
Deadline first reported the news.