Summit Entertainment and OddLot Entertainment announced today that principal photography of the co-production of Draft Day will start on April 25th. Filming of the dramedy is starting in New York in time to film scenes during the actual 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. The movie, starring Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Burstyn and Denis Leary, is being directed and produced by Ivan Reitman from a script by Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman. The film will also feature Frank Langella, Chadwick Boseman, Terry Crews, Sean Combs, Josh Pence, Rosanna Arquette, Timothy Simons, David Ramsey, Wade Williams, Chi McBride, W. Earl Brown, Brad Henke, Griffin Newman, Kevin Dunn, Patrick St. Esprit, Arian Foster, Christopher Cousins, Pat Healy, Laura Steinel and Wallace Langham. Once filming in New York is complete, production will move to Cleveland.
OddLot Entertainment is co-financing the film. Producing the film with Reitman is OddLots CEO Gigi Pritzker along with Joe Medjuck, and Ali Bell via the Montecito Picture Company banner. Montecitos Tom Pollock and Michael Buegg will executive produce.
Draft Day continues in the tradition of Costners great sports-themed films such as Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and Tin Cup. Costner won an Academy Award® for his work on Dances with Wolves and was most recently honored with a Golden Globe for his performance in Hatfields & McCoys.
Reitman is the director and producer who changed the face of American film comedy by producing Animal House and then directing Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters. Reitmans other directing credits include: Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Six Days Seven Nights, Dave, and most recently, No Strings Attached.
Erik Feig, Lionsgate Motion Picture Groups President of Production, said, ’Draft Day’ is that perfect movie with a little something for everyone adrenaline, high stakes, laughs, and ultimately a fantastic group of characters brought to screen by a master director. We are thrilled to be starting production on what we know will be an instant classic with our friends and partners at OddLot and Montecito.
We are thrilled to continue our collaborative relationship with Summit and Lionsgate on ‘Draft Day’ and excited to work on this project with Ivan, Tom and Kevin, said Michael Nathanson and Bill Lischak, Co-Presidents of OddLot. We look forward to starting principal photography next week during the actual NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall which gives this film a great sense of authenticity.
“We are very proud to be producing ‘Draft Day,’ a great screenplay we found and championed, which then went on to be the number one script on last years Black List, said Montecito co-owner Tom Pollock. For Ivan as a director, the project is reminiscent of ‘Dave,’ one of his best films, and for Kevin, it is in the spirit of ‘Field of Dreams.'”
In Draft Day, on the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Costner) has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.
Feig and Meredith Milton, Summit Entertainments Executive Vice President of Production, will oversee the project for the studio. Linda McDonough, OddLots Executive Vice President of Production and Development, will oversee the project on behalf of OddLot.
(Photo Credit: Foc Kan/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
