| Fantasy Football | |
| Director: | Anton Cropper |
| Music: | Kovas |
| Cinematography: | Anthony Hardwick |
| Editing: | Sarah Lucky |
| Distributor: | Paramount+ |
| Runtime: | 98 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Fantasy Football is a 2022 sports family comedy film directed by Anton Cropper and written by Zoe Marshall, Dan Gurewitch and David Young from a story by Richard T. Jones, Jeremy Loethen, and Tim Ogletree. Produced by SpringHill Company, NFL Films, and Nickelodeon Movies, the film stars Marsai Martin, Omari Hardwick, and Kelly Rowland. It released on November 25, 2022 on Paramount+ and received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who found it to be generic and a shameless plug for EA Sports' Madden NFL games.
In June 2023, the film was silently removed from Paramount+.[1]
Callie, the daughter of fictional Atlanta Falcons player Bobby Coleman, is barred from playing football herself. She discovers that she is able to control her father's playing abilities through a magical copy of Madden NFL 23. Realizing these newly unlocked powers, Callie begins playing the game extensively to improve her father's reputation while juggling a commitment to the robotics team as well as facing pressure from the NFL playoffs.[2]
The film was formally unveiled on September 27, 2022.[3] Various facts about the film were quickly unveiled alongside the announcement, including the film's cast, an official poster, and a crew listing. The film was backed by EA Sports, publisher of the Madden NFL 23 game featured in the film, which led to some publications deeming the film an advertisement for the video game.[4] In an interview, stars Rome Flynn and Omari Hardwick said that one of their favorite aspects of the film was the on-set chemistry the two of them had. In an interview with BET, Marsai Martin stated that she wanted her character's interest in robotics to make her a very strong intelligent character, saying that "Black girls in STEM are such a beautiful thing and it's a powerful thing. It just really tells a lot about how your mind works. I love shining a light on the amazing things that Black girls can do and are able to do."[5]
In addition to its announcement, the film was given a release date of November 25, 2022.[6]
A trailer for the film was released on October 26, 2022.[7]
On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 33% approval rating based on reviews from 6 critics.[8] Brandon Yu of The New York Times called the film "controlled chaos", stating that it is "mostly perfunctory. [...] a long ad for Madden [...] and lacks a true charisma that would make it a children’s classic worth revisiting."[9] Marco Castaneda of Hollywood Insider on the other hand, spoke more positively about the film, praising it for showing the "importance of family", and saying that it has "a wonderful cast and production team that involves LeBron James and his collaborator, agent, and long-time friend Maverick Carter. The film will have audiences entertained and their hearts will be touched."[10]