*Sony wants all NFL players to see its new movie “Concussion,” the very film the NFL doesn’t want anyone at all to see.
Will Smith’s drama, opening Christmas Day, is based on the true story of Nigerian forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, the first to discover the football-related brain trauma CTE in a professional player. “Concussion” centers on the severe pushback he received from the NFL in his struggle to let his medical discoveries become known.
Sony is offering free admission to NFL players and a guest at Cinemark theaters nationwide. “By reaching out to the people who are most impacted by the film’s themes,” Sony Pictures said in announcing the offer, “the studio is engaging with the NFL players to join the national dialogue about the film.”
The studio already has engaged many current and former NFL players, holding private screenings in each team’s city in advance of its opening.
“This is a movie for the players, so we wanted to give them a chance to see it before its nationwide release and free admission during its run in theaters,” producers Ridley Scott and Giannina Scott said in a statement. “We think the players will enjoy watching this movie about Dr. Omalu’s incredible courage – courage that changed the game.”
