Paramount has debuted the first trailer for Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story, its true-life football pic starring Superman‘s David Corenswet, which opens Christmas Day.
Directed by Jonathan Levine, pic tells the true story of John Tuggle, the “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 1983 draft — aka the last player chosen in the last round, by the New York Giants — and his enduring impact on his team and teammates.
The footage shown in Las Vegas showed his struggle to play with, finally, a shot, as heads to the New York Giants as the final pick of the final round. Introducing himself on the field the coach shuts him down. “You don’t talk to he. He doesn’t get to talk” — yet. That changes, he’s beloved. “I felt love, I’ve tasted victory, I’ve stood tall,” he said.
Corenswet appeared to discuss the film in a pre-tape, introduced by New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl 21 MVP Phil Simms. The actor told the CinemaCon crowd that, as a Philly boy, he’d had “deep guilt” playing a New York Giant. Then he saw a clip of a game in Philadelphia where the usually rabid fans were cheering Tuggle as he scored. “He was Mr. Irrelevant. He was the man who was never supposed to make it. And in Philly, we have a soft spot for an underdog.”
From Paramount and Skydance Sports, in association with Domain Entertainment, Mr. Irrelevant is written by Nick Santora and also stars Isabel May, David Krumholtz, Tuwaine Barrett, Thaddeus LaGrone, Alexander England, Spencer House, Tandi Wright and Michael Shannon.
Producers on the project included David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Levine, Gillian Bohrer, and Santora. Exec producers included Jesse Sisgold, Jason T. Reed, Sandino Moya-Smith, Stan Wlodkowski, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, Andrew Lary, Ross Ketover, Ken Rodgers and Jessica Boddy.