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Everyone loves a good inspirational sports movie. Even if you don't like sports all that much, the films are still breezy and lighthearted enough to enjoy. One of the newest entries to this genre is Champions, which stars Woody Harrelson as a former minor league basketball coach who is forced to manage a team of intellectually disabled players and get them ready for the Special Olympics. If you want to learn more about this movie before it comes out, we've created a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide that will answer all the questions you may have about Champions, including when it's being released, if it's based on a true story, and who's in it.
Editor's Note: This article was last updated on March 7, 2023.
When Will Champions Be Released?
Champions will be released in North American theaters on March 10, 2023. It was originally set to premiere on March 24, the same day as John Wick: Chapter 4.
Watch the Champions Trailer
The first trailer for Champions was released on December 5, 2022. Not only does this preview feature several funny and heartwarming moments that you would expect from these types of movies, but it also has a clever nod to one of Harrelson's past co-stars (you'll know it when you see it).
Is Champions Based on a True Story?
Champions is based on a 2018 Spanish film called Campeones, which is inspired by the true story of the long-running Valencian Special Olympics team Aderes. The original movie features a very similar plot setup and stars Javier Gutiérrez (Marshland) in the lead role. Campeones also features intellectually disabled actors who all made their debut in this film. Campeones received plenty of critical acclaim and was the highest-grossing Spanish film of 2018 in Spain. It was also nominated for eleven Goya Awards (the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars) and won three, including Best Film. Hopefully, this new remake can stand on its own while retaining the spirit of its predecessor.
Who Made Champions?
Champions is directed by Bobby Farrelly, who, along with his brother Peter Farrelly, has directed several classic comedy films including Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, and Me, Myself & Irene. The last movie that the Farrellys directed together was 2014's Dumb and Dumber To, which despite being a box office success was generally considered a step down from its predecessor. Collider's very own Matt Goldberg said in his review of the film that "the heartlessness of the picture makes Dumb and Dumber To too nasty to be dumb fun." Since then, Peter Farrelly has directed more dramatic films such as 2018's Green Book and 2022's The Greatest Beer Run Ever, the former winning Best Picture at the 2019 Academy Awards, while Bobby Farrelly has directed episodes of several television and streaming shows, including Trailer Park Boys for Netflix, Loudermilk for Prime Video (and formerly the Audience Network), and The Now for the Roku Channel (originally developed for Quibi). Champions is Bobby Farrelly's solo feature-length directorial debut.
Mark Rizzo adapted the screenplay for this remake. Champions is the second film he's written after the 2008 TV movie Zip. Rizzo also wrote episodes for the animated Disney series Gravity Falls and the animated Netflix series Green Eggs and Ham, the latter garnering him a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program. Woody Harrelson serves as an executive producer on Champions alongside Alexander Jooss and Brad Kessell. Javier Fesser, who directed and co-wrote Campeones, also serves as an executive producer on this remake with Álvara Longoria and Luis Manso, who both produced Campeones. Other producers of the movie include Paul Brooks, Cary Davies, Drew Locke, Scott Niemeyer, Jeremy Plager, Anna Schwartz, and Jonathan Shore. The film's cinematography is by C. Kim Miles and film editing was done by Julie Garcés.
What Is Champions About?
Here's the official plot synopsis for Champions if you want to learn more about the plot:
In CHAMPIONS, Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
Who's In the Champions Cast?
Woody Harrelson plays Marcus, a controversial minor league basketball coach who is court-ordered to manage an intellectually disabled basketball team. Even though he initially doesn't like this idea, Marcus soon warms up to coaching the team and becomes close with its members. Harrelson got his start on the classic sitcom Cheers, which netted him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He has since starred in many critically acclaimed films such as The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Messenger, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, all of which he has received Academy Award nominations for. Harrelson is also involved in several movie franchises such as Zombieland and Venom, the latter of which sees him play the iconic Spider-Man villain Carnage. Moreover, Harrelson starred alongside Matthew McConaughey in the beloved first season of the HBO anthology series True Detective, scoring himself another Emmy nomination. Champions marks the first time Harrelson and Bobby Farrelly have worked together since 1996's Kingpin.
Kaitlin Olsen plays Alex, Marcus' love interest who just so happens to be an older sister to one of his new players. Olsen is best known for playing Dee Reynolds in the long-running FX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. More recently, she portrayed DJ Vance in the critically acclaimed HBO Max comedy series Hacks, which garnered her a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Olsen has also appeared in several feature films such as Coyote Ugly, The Heat, and Finding Dory. Ernie Hudson plays Phil, a fellow minor-league basketball coach who Marcus fights with during a game, which is partly why he gets fired. Hudson is most well known for playing Winston Zeddemore in the first two Ghostbusters films and then again over thirty years later in the legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Other films that Hudson has popped up in include The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The Crow, and Miss Congeniality. As for television, Hudson was in the main cast of the HBO series Oz and had recurring roles on several other shows including St. Elsewhere, Law & Order, and Grace and Frankie. Apart from these actors, Cheech Marin and Being the Ricardos actor Matt Cook also appear in Champions.
More importantly, several intellectually disabled actors have been cast in Champions, 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. All of these actors are relatively unknown presently but hopefully, this movie will help bring them into the limelight.