Getty Kurt Warner will officially have his journey from grocery store worker to Super Bowl MVP with the Rams head to the big screen on December 10 in the film "American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story."
Kurt Warner and the Rams are officially heading to the big screen during the holiday season.
The 2017 Hall of Famer and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player confirmed on Twitter that his journey from grocery store worker to Super Bowl champ will be shared to the world on December 10 in the movie “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” from Lionsgate.
Warner, who played 12 seasons in the league, shared on the social media website his excitement toward the film coming to life and posting “I am excited to bring our story to the BIG screen… especially at a time when we could all use a little inspiration!”
From Hy-Vee to the Hall of Fame
Years before Warner joined a Dick Vermeil-coached St. Louis Rams, Warner was backing up Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent from the University of Northern Iowa. He was released before the season began.
From there, he was seen stocking shelves at the Hy-Vee Grocery Store in Cedar Falls, Iowa., where he worked night shifts. During the time he was filling shelves with food and other essential items for $5.50 an hour, he was also suiting up for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League in trying to keep his football career going.
But the Hollywood fairy tale began to take shape before the 1999 season. The Rams were originally set to be led by Trent Green at quarterback, who came to St. Louis via the Washington Football Team. Green, however, suffered a torn ACL that eliminated his season. An emotional Vermeil then blurted these words during a press conference that ended up proving to be true:
“We will rally around Kurt Warner, and we’ll play good football.”
From there, “The Greatest Show on Turf” was born with Warner spearheading the offense. Warner engineered a 6-0 start that ended with the franchise capturing their first and lone Super Bowl title in Atlanta. Warner not only capped his season with 41 touchdown passes and 4,353 yards, but the Hollywood-like story as followers of his journey hailed it ended with the former Hy-Vee employee winning Super Bowl MVP honors.
Who will be in “American Underdog?”
The film was originally supposed to hit theaters in 2020, but the spread of coronavirus halted production of the film. Warner joked on Twitter in July 2020 that he was going to be played by a superhero.
And the actor who will portray Warner? Zachary Levi, best known for his role in “Shazam!” by DC Studios. The 40-year-old Levi, who also co-starred in 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” took to his Instagram account in 2020 to share his excitement about bringing Warner’s story to life saying “Beyond pumped for this one. Have always found [Kurt Warner], his family, and their journey, to be an uplifting and inspiring one. Can’t wait to bring their story to screens both larger and small.”
Also set to star in the movie are:
Anna Paquin: The 38-year-old will play Brenda Warner, Kurt’s wife. Paquin is perhaps best known for winning the Best Supporting Actress nod in 1993 for her performance in “The Piano.” She also starred in 2019’s “The Irishman” released on Netflix and was the Marvel Comic character “Rogue” in three X-Men films by 20th Century Fox.
O.J. Keith Simpson: Simpson will star as Marshall Faulk. Like Warner, Simpson played in the Arena Football League. However, he’s best known as a stunt performer for the 2015 movie “Focus” starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie and 2018’s “Brian Banks” about a wrongly convicted high school football star who managed to still play in the NFL.
Simeon Castille: The 36-year-old will play Isaac Bruce. Castille is a former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback who also played at the University of Alabama.
The film will be the latest release from the Kingdom Story Company, which will be their second football film. They were behind the 2015 movie “Woodlawn,” which was based on the true story of former Miami Dolphin Tony Nathan who had to navigate through racial tensions in 1970s Alabama.