The Fire Inside (film)

Last updated

The Fire Inside
The Fire Inside film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rachel Morrison
Written by Barry Jenkins
Produced by
  • Elishia Holmes
  • Barry Jenkins
Starring
CinematographyRina Yang
Edited by Harry Yoon
Music by Tamar-kali
Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios
Release dates
  • September 7, 2024 (2024-09-07)(TIFF)
  • December 25, 2024 (2024-12-25)(United States)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Fire Inside is a 2024 American biographical sports film by Rachel Morrison in her feature directorial debut. The film is about American professional boxer Claressa "T-Rex" Shields training for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ryan Destiny stars as the lead, alongside Brian Tyree Henry.

Contents

The Fire Inside premiered in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2024, and is scheduled to be released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on December 25, 2024.

Plot

Claressa "T-Rex" Shields trains to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Cast

Production

On October 7, 2016, Universal Pictures hired Barry Jenkins to adapt the 2015 documentary T-Rex with the possibility to direct the film. [1] On June 19, 2019, Rachel Morrison was set to make her directorial debut on Flint Strong; Jenkins would produce with Michael De Luca and Elishia Holmes, while Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper, who worked on T-Rex would serve as executive producers. [2]

On November 13, 2019, Ryan Destiny was cast as Claressa "T-Rex" Shields. [3] On February 5, 2020, Ice Cube was cast as Shields' coach, Jason Crutchfield. [4] Judy Greer was added on May 14. [5] However, on October 29, 2021, it was reported that Cube had left the project after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19 to film Oh Hell No (later titled Stepdude) for Columbia Pictures, putting the film in turnaround. [6]

Principal photography began at Cinespace Film Studios in Toronto on March 11, 2020, but on March 13, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [7] [8] [9] In an interview with The Guardian , Shields stated that production was set to resume in June 2021. [10] However, the project entered a long delay due to being offloaded by Universal. It would be picked up by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and on May 25, 2022, Brian Tyree Henry joined the cast to replace Cube and Oluniké Adeliyi joined to play Shields' mother, with filming resuming later that month. [11] On July 6, 2022, De'Adre Aziza joined the cast as Mickey, Crutchfield's wife. [12] In July 2022, filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, where the FirstOntario Centre was used as an Olympic boxing venue. [13]

Release

In July 2024, The Fire Inside was announced as part of the Special Presentations section at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival scheduled for September 7, 2024. [14] The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on December 25, 2024. [15]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 96% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "Equal measures inspiring, and enraging, this typical sports drama knows how to take a hit and dole them out with enough emotion and vigor to stoke The Fire Inside." [16] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [17]

Accolades

AwardCeremony dateCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Denver International Film Festival November 10, 2024Rising Star Award Ryan Destiny Won [18]
Camerimage November 23, 2024 Golden Frog for Best CinematographyRina YangPending [19]
Gotham Awards December 2, 2024 Outstanding Supporting Performance Brian Tyree Henry Pending [20]
Breakthrough Performer Ryan DestinyPending
Celebration of Cinema and Television December 9, 2024Rising Star Award – FilmWon [21]

See also

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References

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