LORD OF THE RING
BIG GEORGE FOREMAN… Boxing, grills and miracles.
American boxing icon and low-fat grill entrepreneur George Foreman is the subject of an upcoming big-screen biopic, but don’t let the film’s whimsically long title fool you into thinking this is going to be a quirky drama. Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World is a powerful, true-to-life recreation of Foreman’s career from 1963 to 1994, when he became the oldest world heavyweight champion.
‘The title gives you the idea that this is a little different boxing movie,’ explains director George Tillman Jr., which is rather apt considering Foreman’s career took the sporting hero from the boxing ring to religion and back again, via a money-making stint as the face of the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine (to date, more than 100 million grills sold worldwide).
From the knockout scenes that Teasers sees during our edit-bay visit on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in California, it is clear that the hardhitting fights in the movie pack a powerful punch. Sweat flies through the air as Foreman (played by Khris Davis) takes on Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones) in a historic 1974 fight, which was famously tagged The Rumble in the Jungle. Even if you know the outcome, the on-screen action is intense, energetic and mesmerising.
‘It was really important for me to establish that boxing in the
70s was all about these mighty gladiators,’ says Tillman. ‘In the 70s, boxing was about the smoke around the ring and the incredible atmosphere. I spent a lot of time in trying to get that right.’
In order to make the boxing clashes look ultra-realistic, Judas and the Black Messiah actor Khris Davis spent more than six gruelling months on boxing training and learning the complicated choreography of each specific bout. Plus, the actors threw real punches on the blue-screen set in New Orleans.
‘They hit each other for real,’ confirms Tillman, who last directed in 2018 with The Hate U Give. ‘I hate seeing boxing scenes where you can tell the punches aren’t connecting. It just doesn’t feel right. Most of the guys acting in our ring are real fighters. Some fought for the heavyweight champion belt. With all the fighters in this movie, they are throwing real punches.’
So how does Big George Foreman… stack up against Hollywood’s heavyweight boxing films of the past? Tillman tells Teasers:‘Raging Bull is a classic. Rocky is a classic. I love Million Dollar Baby, too. With this, I just wanted to throw my hat in the ring and say I was part of the genre with a good story. George’s life is a tale of transformation and second chances. It’s a fascinating story to tell.’
‘Boxing in the 70s was all about these mighty gladiators’ GEORGE TILLMAN JR.