Concussion

Concussion (2015)

Timing: 2:3 (123 min)

7.08/10
2479

6.795/10
35933

7.1/10
105000

All about film

Video 5

Photo 36

Actors and characters

Release date

2015-11-12

Country

Australia, United States, United Kingdom

Production

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Scott Free Productions, LStar Capital, The Cantillon Company, The Shuman Company, Cara Films

Genre

Drama

Budget

$35 000 000

Revenue

$48 623 572

Website

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/concussion/

Director

Peter Landesman

Actors

Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morse, Arliss Howard, Mike O'Malley, Eddie Marsan, Hill Harper, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Peter Landesman, Jeanne Marie Laskas

Producer

Ridley Scott, Elizabeth Cantillon, Larry Shuman, Giannina Facio-Scott, David Wolthoff, Bruce Berman, Ben Waisbren, David Crockett, Michael Schaefer, Greg Basser

Operator

Salvatore Totino

Composer

James Newton Howard

Artist

Christina Myal

Audition

Mary Vernieu, Lindsay Graham Ahanonu

Editing

William Goldenberg
All team (70)

• While preparing to play the role of the doctor in the film "The Protector", actor Alec Baldwin observed several doctors.
• Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• The plot is based on the article "Game Brain" by Jeanne Marie Laskas, published in "GQ" magazine in 2009.
• Will Smith and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje previously starred together in "Suicide Squad" (2016).
• In preparation for "Concussion", Will Smith and screenwriter and director Peter Landesman observed autopsies. In two cases, the autopsies were performed by Dr. Bennet Omalu himself.
• The role of Prema Mutiso was initially offered to actress Lupita Nyong'o.
• The scientific article that drew attention to cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players was titled "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in National Football League Players." It was published in the journal "Neurosurgery" in July 2005 (volume 57, issue 1). The article was written by a team of authors consisting of B. Omalu, S. DeKosky, R. Minster, M. Cambo, R. Hamilton, and C. Wecht. Excerpts from the article can be found on the website of the National Library of Medicine, and the full text can be purchased from the journal's publishers.
• Matthew Willig, who starred in this film, should be familiar with this topic. Willig played 14 seasons in the National Football League.
• Initially, it was believed that Ridley Scott would direct the film "Concussion" after completing work on "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014).
• Some scenes of the film were shot in Oxnard, California.
• Clayton, the founder and frontman of the musical project "Celldweller," created a synthesizer program for the film's main musical theme.
• In Cyril Wecht's office, several photographs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy can be seen. In reality, Cyril Wecht was famous, among other things, for his critical attitude towards the conclusions of the Warren Commission (or the Presidential Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy) regarding the assassination. In the film "Parkland" (2013), Peter Landesman, on the contrary, presented positions supporting the conclusions of the Warren Commission, presented on September 24, 1964.
• This is the second film from Columbia Pictures starring Will Smith, scheduled for release on December 25th. The first was the 2001 sports drama "Ali." In both cases, Will Smith played characters based on real people.
• Mike Webster died of a heart attack at the age of 50. After leaving professional football, he lived in his car, slept at train stations, and was repeatedly arrested for forging prescriptions for stimulants. He claimed he needed the medication to cope with the effects of concussions. Doctors stated that his frontal lobe was damaged, causing cognitive dysfunction. At the time of his death, Webster was "homeless, unemployed, deeply in debt, plagued by a host of ailments, and had no health insurance." To make matters worse, Webster was going through a divorce at the time.
• Preparing to play the role of a doctor in 'Concussion,' actor Alec Baldwin observed several physicians.
• The plot is based on Jean Marie Laskas's article 'Game Brain,' published in 'GQ' magazine in 2009.
• Will Smith and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will star together in 'Suicide Squad' (2016).
• While preparing for the film "Concussion," Will Smith and screenwriter and director Peter Landesman observed autopsies. In two cases, the autopsies were performed by Dr. Bennet Omalu himself.
• The scientific article that drew attention to cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players was titled "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in National Football League Players." It was published in the journal "Neurosurgery" in July 2005 (volume 57, issue 1). The article was written by an author collective consisting of B. Omalu, S. DeKosky, R. Minster, M. Cambo, R. Hamilton, and C. Wecht. Excerpts from the article can be found on the website of the National Library of Medicine, and the full text can be purchased from the journal's publishers for a fee.
• Initially, it was believed that Ridley Scott would direct "Concussion" after completing work on the film "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014).
• Clayton, founder and frontman of the musical project "Celldweller," composed a synthesizer program for the film's main musical theme.
• In Cyril Wecht's office, several photographs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy can be seen. In reality, Cyril Wecht was famous, among other things, for his critical attitude towards the Warren Commission's (or the Presidential Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy) conclusions regarding the assassination. In the film "Parkland" (2013), Peter Landesman, conversely, took a position supporting the Warren Commission's findings, presented on September 24, 1964.
• This is the second film from Columbia Pictures starring Will Smith, scheduled for release on December 25th. The first was the 2001 sports drama "Ali." In both cases, Will Smith played characters based on real people.
• Mike Webster died of a heart attack at the age of 50. After leaving professional football, he lived in his car, slept in train stations, and was repeatedly arrested for forging prescriptions for stimulants. He claimed he needed the medication to cope with the effects of concussions. Doctors stated that his frontal lobe was damaged, causing cognitive dysfunction. At the time of his death, Webster was "homeless, unemployed, deeply in debt, plagued by ailments, and without health insurance." To make matters worse, Webster was in the midst of a divorce.