News

Exclusive: Madison Tevlin, an actress, model, advocate, speaker and digital creator seen in Focus Features’ Champions, has signed with UTA for representation across areas including Creators, Unscripted, Audio, Publishing, Talent, Foundation, Culture and Leadership.

In Bobby Farrelly’s Special Olympics dramedy Champions, released last year, Tevlin shares the screen with Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin and more. A viral phenom whose successes challenge misperceptions of those with Down Syndrome, she says the disorder has often left her underestimated, though it’s certainly the least interesting thing about her.

Tevlin captured the attention and hearts of people around the world when at 12 years old, she took to YouTube to share her cover of John Legend’s “All of Me.” The post went viral, garnering over eight million views, and later that same year, she was invited to perform before a live audience of 80,000 people at the 2015 Special Olympics.

SeriesFest has announced the official lineup for SeriesFest: Season 9, which will be held from May 5 to 10 in Denver. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” producers will be presented with the SeriesFest Impact in Television Award at the annual festival, Variety can exclusively reveal.

SeriesFest: Season 9 has slated a wide variety of screenings, panels, workshops and sneak peeks/television premieres at this year’s festival. The non-profit organization is committed to showcasing and uplifting rising talent and underserved communities through episodic storytelling.

This year’s Impact in Television Award will be presented to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” producers Randy Barbato, Fenton Bailey and Tom Campbell, for their pioneering and creative developments in the world of television production. Barbato, Bailey and Campbell will also participate in a panel on Monday, May 8, where audiences can ask the creatives questions.

“We’re excited to celebrate this amazing content and embrace conversations about the ever-changing industry,” Randi Kleiner, co-founder and CEO of SeriesFest,...

Champions is a comedy movie directed by Bobby Farrelly starring Woody Harrelson and Ernie Hudson.

Remake of the Spanish film Campeones. No one dared to trash the Spanish film, but this one has been given its due by specialized critics.

Sometimes you have to judge cinema as cinema, and sometimes even film critics get it right.

Sentimental and trite.

Movie Review

Is it better than the Spanish version? Of course, Hollywood exhibits all its industry muscle, and what was a European production in the Hispanic film – with its own merit but lacking on a production level, here the industry exhibits its potential and gives a quick polish to everything: the editing, the sound, and puts a star, Woody Harrelson, in the spotlight.

It takes everything from the Spanish film, except for the great campaign that was made to judge a film not by its cinematic content but by its more social side.

Kevin Iannucci, Kaitlin Olson, James Day Keith, and Woody Harrelson in ‘Champions’ (Photo Credit: Shauna Townley / Focus Features)

There have been many inspirational basketball films, including Hoosiers, Hoop Dreams, and Above the Rim. Add to that list Champions starring Woody Harrelson as Marcus, a minor-league basketball coach in De Moines, Iowa, who has just been fired for pushing head coach Phil Perretti (Ernie Hudson) for not listening to him about strategy during a game.

To make matters worse, Marcus ends up slamming into a police car on his way home and is ordered by the court to perform 90 days of community service.

The judge notices his unique talents and orders him to coach a basketball team of young players with intellectual disabilities. Wanting to stay out of jail, Marcus reluctantly agrees.

To say he’s unimpressed with his players and their non-existent hoop skills would be a gross understatement. “It...

Bobby Farelly’s been out of the feature game for almost ten years. After a lucrative 20-year career writing, directing, and producing together, brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly split cinematic ways in 2014. They kept working together in TV, but where Bobby took a break, Peter doubled down, debuting a solo career with Green Book and amassing Oscars and jeers alike. Now it’s Bobby’s turn, and unfortunately he is not amassing Oscars.

Champions opens on a spiraling Marcus Marakovich (Woody Harrelson)––local hothead drunk and soon-to-be-canned assistant coach of the NBA G-league Iowa Stallions––in the final seconds of a nailbiter. A brash, sickeningly self-assured disagreement on strategy with the head coach (Ernie Hudson) quickly turns into a physical altercation that loses Marcus his job, leads him to a DUI, and lands him in court. In place of a harsher sentence the judge graciously offers Markus the chance to...

(L to R) Kevin Iannucci as Johnathan, Kaitlin Olson as Alex, James Day Keith as Benny, Madison Tevlin as Cosentino, Cheech Marin as Julio, and Woody Harrelson as Marcus in director Bobby Farrelly’s Champions, a Focus Features release. Credit : Shauna Townley/Focus Features

Woody Harrelson stars as a former pro basketball coach court-ordered to coach a Special Olympics team with intellectual disabilities, in director Bobby Farrelly’s Champions. With such a premise, one might worry the film could go one of two ways: offensive or cloyingly sentimental. Bobby Farrelly brings enough signature Farrelly brothers humor to Champions to make it a funny, if slightly raunchy, comedy and while it avoids the first issue, it does lean to the sentimental although it dodges the cloying part. The result is a more entertaining film than one might expect, largely due to the appealing cast of actors with disabilities, although it...

Throughout cinema, people have always rooted for the underdogs. Especially in sports films. We love seeing a ragtag team of misfits succeed against impossible odds. And, even if they don’t win, we love to see a ragtag team of misfits come together as a team, and as a team, they learn about the power of teamwork. Throw in a curmudgeon coach, and you are onto a winner.

With this in mind, the latest Farrelly brother venture Champions should’ve succeeded. It has a group of misfits, it has a grumpy man coaching them, and it has a sport.

Well, what usually would’ve ticked all boxes becomes a dry, tired, trope-filled movie that as an added bonus, is super exploitative as well.

Directed by Bobby Farrally, Champions revolves around basketball coach Marcus, who has a surly aggressive management style that sees him relegated to assistant coach in the minor leagues.

Photo: Focus Features In Champions, a remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones, Woody Harrelson plays a basketball coach who, by force of circumstance, must take the helm for a team of intellectually challenged Special Olympians. Of course, Harrelson launched his career playing the charmingly not-so-bright Woody on Cheers. And the...

One day, Hollywood will finally realise that marginalised people deserve to be at the centre of their own stories. Until then, we’ve got Champions – the latest film in which a bigot is patiently taught not to be a bigot by the very targets of his ignorance, while we’re all expected to stand up and applaud his bravery. It’s a sports comedy, directed by Bobby Farrelly, in which Woody Harrelson’s disgraced basketball coach Marcus is charged with community service after a drunk driving incident. For the next 90 days, he’ll head up a local team of intellectually disabled adults, with an eye to helping them land a spot at the Special Olympics.

With his brother Peter, Farrelly spent the 1990s and early 2000s making occasionally funny, largely offensive comedies like There’s Something About Mary (1998) and Me, Myself & Irene (2000). Champions, Bobby’s first solo project, exists at...

Champions Review — Champions (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Bobby Farrelly, written by Mark Rizzo, Javier Fesser and David Marques and starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Matt Cook, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Champions (2023): Woody Harrelson is Fun to Watch in Bobby Farrelly’s Winning Basketball Comedy...

While Peter Farrelly was off winning Oscars for “Green Book,” younger brother Bobby has been largely absent from feature directing. It’s been nearly a decade since the siblings shared credit — the last time being 2014’s “Dumb and Dumber To.” Now, rather than competing with Peter at the respectability game, Bobby sticks to what he knows with “Champions,” in which Woody Harrelson plays a minor-league basketball coach court-ordered to assist a Special Olympics team for 90 days — just long enough to take the team from bumbling incompetents to national finalists.

There are zero surprises in “Champions,” unless you count the not-inconsiderable shock that such a movie exists at all. A remake of 2018 Spanish box office sensation “Campeones,” this awkward (if presumably well-intentioned) comedy might have felt enlightened 25 years ago — back when “Forrest Gump” was an Oscar favorite — but today makes for a patronizing portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities. That’s...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. An irascible, down-on-his-luck coach is reluctantly put in charge of a ragtag team of misfits who can barely play the game. Although he can hardly disguise his initial disgust, the players’ enthusiastic attitudes and general lovability soften him up until he becomes not just their coach but also their most ardent cheerleader. In the process, he becomes a better person.

That’s the Bad News Bears-style template for the latest cinematic variation on the subject, starring Woody Harrelson in a role he was seemingly born to play. You don’t need to have seen the 2018 Spanish hit comedy Campeones, which won multiple Goya Awards including Best Film, to think that its American remake, Champions, feels overly familiar. But that doesn’t make this sure-to-be crowd-pleaser any less winning, especially with the endlessly likable Harrelson at its center.

In this case, the...

Woody Harrelson steps onto the court once again in the heartfelt sports comedy “Champions.” Directed by Bobby Farrelly, the remake of the 2018 Spanish film “Campeones” sees Harrelson as Marcus, a former minor-league basketball coach who leads a team of intellectually disabled players called the Friends.

“It’s really hard to make an authentically funny and emotionally vulnerable film, and I thought they did such a wonderful job,” Kaitlin Olson, who plays Alex in the movie, told Variety Monday night at the New York premiere of “Champions.” “I met all the Friends and they’re such an incredible cast. They all showed up ready to play, and we just had the most amazing time.”

After watching hundreds of auditions during an open casting call across the U.S. and Canada, the production team found the ideal Friends: Kevin Iannucci, Joshua Felder, Madison Tevlin, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair,...

Champions Trailer — Bobby Farrelly‘s Champions (2023) movie trailer has been released by Focus Features. The Champions trailer stars Woody Harrelson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Matt Cook, Kaitlin Olson, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, and Matthew Von Der Ahe. Crew Mark Rizzo wrote the screenplay for Champions. “Produced by Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, [...]

Continue reading: Champions (2023) Movie Trailer: Coach Woody Harrelson is court-ordered to Mentor a Unique Team of Players...

Focus Features is already training for March Madness with the studio’s Champions trailer. Designed to make you laugh, open your eyes, and warm your heart, Champions stars Woody Harrelson as a former minor league basketball coach. After a series of missteps, the court orders Harrelson’s Marcus to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, the team can go further than they ever imagined.

Bobby Farrelly directs Champions from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo. Joining Harrelson for the inspirational sports feature are Ernie Hudson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook, with Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Ianucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens, and more.

Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, and Jeremy Plager produce, with Woody Harrelson, Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Álvaro Longoria, Javier Fesser, and Luis Manso executive producing.

In the Champions trailer,...

"You don't have to turn them into the Lakers. They just need to feel like a team." Hey, another cheesy feel good movie for everyone to enjoy! Focus Features has revealed an official trailer for an indie comedy called Champions, an English-language US remake of the Spanish comedy also called Champions (from 2018). A former minor-league basketball coach receives a court order to take over a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Despite his doubts, he soon realizes that together they can go further than ever imagined. This sounds like the plot of Mighty Ducks, but with an extra twist with his young players. Woody Harrelson stars in this as Coach Marcus, along with Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Matt Cook, Kaitlin Olson, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, and Matthew Von Der Ahe. This looks like something fun and uplifting, though also seems easy to forget as soon as it's over.

Exclusive: Ernie Hudson is the final addition to the cast of Champions, the recently-wrapped Special Olympics film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

He’ll star alongside the previously announced Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin and Matt Cook. Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include 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 is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018. It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.

Mark Rizzo wrote the script. Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer and Jeremy Plager produced,...

Focus Features and Gold Circle have partnered on Bobby Farrelly’s 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,...

Exclusive: Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Woody Harrelson, Emmy nominee Kaitlin Olson, Grammy nominee Cheech Marin and Matt Cook will lead Champions, a recently-wrapped film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018. It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service. Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include 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.