Fist Fight is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Richie Keen and written by Van Robichaux and Evan Susser. The film stars Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Christina Hendricks, Jillian Bell and Tracy Morgan and follows two teachers who plan to fight each other after one of them gets fired.
| Fist Fight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richie Keen |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Eric Alan Edwards |
| Edited by | Matthew Freund |
| Music by | Dominic Lewis |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures[1] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million[3] |
| Box office | $12 million[4] |
The film premiered in Los Angeles on February 13, 2017, and was released in the United States on February 17, 2017 in Standard and Dolby Cinema.
Plot
It is now the last day of high school and there has been chaos from the students' senior pranks. Andy Campbell was teaching English to the kids but was unamused by the kids' pranks from the drawing board. History teacher Ron Strickland was unamused as well once he witnessed a student turn off the TV and VCR with his smartphone app. Strickland noticed the prank again and used an axe to destroy the boy's table, which horrified Campbell. Both Campbell and Strickland were brought to Principal Tyler for the matter. Campbell convinced Tyler that Strickland started the outburst, which made him fired. Strickland threatened Campbell for a fist fight sometime after school for making him lose his job.
Cast
- Charlie Day as Mr. Andy Campbell,[5] mild-mannered English teacher
- Ice Cube as Mr. Ron Strickland,[5] a colleague of Mr. Campbell's and history teacher
- Tracy Morgan[6] as Coach Crawford, an incompetent Gym Coach
- Jillian Bell as Counselor Holly
- Christina Hendricks[7] as Miss Monet, an intense drama teacher with the hots for Mr. Strickland
- Dean Norris[8] as Principal Richard Tyler
- Kumail Nanjiani as Officer Mehar, an employee who doesn't like profanity.
- Dennis Haysbert[6] as Superintendent Johnson
- JoAnna Garcia[6] as Maggie, the devoted, loving and pregnant wife of Andy Campbell
- Kym Whitley[9] as 911 Operator
- Conphidance as Gangster
Production
In December 2013, the project was announced that New Line Cinema was developing a comedy from writers Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, titled Fist Fight.[10] On June 9, 2015, Ice Cube and Charlie Day were cast in the film, which 21 Laps Entertainment would produce along with its Shawn Levy with Billy Rosenberg, and Max Greenfield.[5] On July 10, Richie Keen was confirmed to be the director of the film, while Dan Cohen would be the producer also.[11] On September 15, 2015, Jillian Bell and Dean Norris were cast in the film.[8] On September 21, 2015, Tracy Morgan, JoAnna Garcia, and Dennis Haysbert joined the film.[6] On September 25, 2015, Christina Hendricks was added to the cast.[7] Kym Whitley was also confirmed to star.[9]
Principal photography on the film began on September 28, 2015, in Atlanta, Georgia,[12][13] which ended on November 23, 2015.[14]
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, Fist Fight opened on February 17, 2017, alongside A Cure for Wellness and The Great Wall, and was initially projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,184 theaters in its opening weekend.[15] However after grossing just $600,000 from Thursday night previews and $3.8 million on its first day, projections were lowered to $10–12 million. It went on to open to $12 million, finishing 5th at the box office.[3]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 31% based on 71 reviews, and an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Fist Fight boasts a surplus of comedic muscle but flails lazily, and far too few of its jokes land with enough force to register."[16] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score 37 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[17] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[18]
Writing for RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny gave the film of 3 out of 4 stars, saying “Fist Fight stands up, at least a little bit, for storytelling".[19]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "Film releases". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; February 18, 2017 suggested (help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Fist Fight (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "Another Holiday Weekend Where Holdovers Reign & New Studio Releases Tank: Presidents' Day B.O." Deadline.com.
- ^ "Fist Fight (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ a b c Fleming Jr, Mike (June 9, 2015). "Charlie Day & Ice Cube Put On The Gloves For 'Fist Fight' At New Line". deadline.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Pedersen, Erik (September 21, 2015). "Tracy Morgan, JoAnna Garcia Swisher & Dennis Haysbert Put Up Dukes For 'Fist Fight'". deadline.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Kit, Borys (September 25, 2015). "Christina Hendricks in Talks to Join Ice Cube, Charlie Day in 'Fist Fight' (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Kit, Borys (September 15, 2015). "Jillian Bell and Dean Norris Join Ice Cube and Charlie Day in 'Fist Fight' (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (September 25, 2015). "Kym Whitley Joins 'Fist Fight', by WB and TCF 'LBJ' Adds 2 New Cast Members, Louis Gossett, Jr. Enlists In 'Operation Insanity'". deadline.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ Fleming Jr, Mike (December 12, 2013). "New Line Engages In 'Fist Fight' Pitch With 'New Girl's Max Greenfield". deadline.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ McNary, Dave (July 10, 2015). "Ice Cube, Charlie Day's Comedy 'Fist Fight' Finds Director". variety.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "On the Set for 10/2/15: Renee Zellweger Starts on 'Bridget Jones' Baby', Clint Eastwood Rolls Cameras on Tom Hanks Starrer 'Sully'". ssninsider.com. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "'Fist Fight' Starring Ice Cube Casting Call for High School Students". projectcasting.com. September 22, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ^ "On the Set for 12/4/15: Gal Gadot Grabs Her Lasso for 'Wonder Woman', Brad Pitt Wraps 'War Machine', 'Resident Evil' Team Finish Final Chapter". SSN Insider. December 4, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
- ^ "Matt Damon's 'Great Wall' poised for soft U.S. opening against 'Lego Batman' and 'Fifty Shades'". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Fist Fight (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ "Fist Fight reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
- ^ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (February 17, 2017). "Fist Fight Review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 18, 2017.