‘Champions’, the American remake of the Spanish blockbuster ‘Campeones’, launches its first trailer

As has happened on so many other occasions, The United States has chosen to make its own version of a European blockbuster. It is not the first nor will it be the last time, in fact, Recently, the version that the aforementioned country has decided to produce of ‘Untouchable’, the well-known French hit, stands out which launched Omar Sy to worldwide fame. In this case, Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart starred in the American film “The Upside”. On the same line now comes ‘Champions’, remake of the Spanish ‘Campeones’which just released its first trailer.

Led by Woody Harrelson, “Champions” starts from the same premise, a basketball coach, Marcus Aldridge (Harrelson), who chains a series of catastrophic misfortunes. For starters, he gets fired from his position after a string of losses and ends up facing legal trouble after crashing into a police car. Sentenced to community service, Aldridge will eventually coach a basketball team made up of players with intellectual disabilities. What begins as a job motivated by the obligation and the interest to recover his old job, It evolves towards an emotional bond with the group, which ends up going much further than anyone thought possible..

Along with Harrelson, the cast of this remake of the Spanish film directed by Javier Fesser is completed by Kaitlin Olson (‘Hanging in Philadelphia’), who embodies the love interest of the protagonist; Ernie Hudson (‘Ghostbusters’), Cheech Marin (‘From Dusk Till Dawn’) and Matt Cook (‘Being Ricardo’).

“Champions” marks the solo directorial debut of Bobby Farrelly, director who until now had collaborated with his brother, “Peter Farrelly”, in comedies such as “Something is wrong with Mary” or “Me, myself and Irene”. Farrelly is directing from a script by Mark Rizzo, known for his work on the Disney animated series “Gravity Falls.” The film will be released in US theaters on March 24, 2023..

And in Spain?

Meanwhile, the sequel to ‘Champions’ is boiling in our country. The winner of three Goya Awards, including Best Picture, has just wrapped filming on the sequel; a film that once again sees Fesser at the controls, director who directed the first chapter and co-wrote the screenplay with David Marqués.

Sergio Olmo, Jesús Lago, José de Luna, Jesús Vidal, Fran Fuentes, Gloria Ramos, Alberto Nieto, Roberto Chinchilla and Stefan López, protagonists of ‘Campeones’ and members of the basketball team, reprise their roles for ‘Campeonex’as the sequel is called, a film this time co-written by Fesser and Athenea Mata, the actress who played Sonia in the original.