Sony has "found itself softening some points" of Columbia Pictures' upcoming release "Concussion" that it "might have made against" the NFL, according to a front-page piece by Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. In dozens of studio emails unearthed by hackers, Sony execs, film director Peter Landesman and reps of lead actor Will Smith "discussed how to avoid antagonizing the NFL by altering the script and marketing the film more as a whistle-blower story, rather than a condemnation of football or the league." Sony Pictures Domestic Marketing President Dwight Caines in an email dated Aug. 6, 2014, that was sent to three top studio execs regarding how to position the movie wrote, "Will is not anti football (nor is the movie) and isn’t planning to be a spokesman for what football should be or shouldn’t be but rather is an actor taking on an exciting challenge. We’ll develop messaging with the help of NFL consultant to ensure that we are telling a dramatic story and not kicking the hornet’s nest." Belson reports an email from Aug. 1, 2014, stated some "'unflattering moments for the NFL' were deleted or changed." In another email from two before prior, a top Sony lawyer "is said to have taken 'most of the bite' out of the film 'for legal reasons with the NFL and that it was not a balance issue.'" Landesman confirmed that Sony lawyers "deleted some material from the film, but he declined to elaborate on the cuts beyond saying that they did so to make the story 'better and richer and fairer.'" He added, "We don’t want to give the NFL a toehold to say, ‘They are making it up,’ and damage the credibility of the movie. ... There was never an instance where we compromised the storytelling to protect ourselves from the NFL" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/2).
YOU CALL THAT SOFT? FS1's Petros Papadakis said he was a "little bit surprised" that Sony softened the movie some because the film is "about the NFL being deceitful and evil." Papadakis: "How are you going to tweak that so the NFL is not mad? Are people just going to walk into the theater and suddenly it’s going to be ‘After Earth’ with Will Smith and his kid instead of this movie? I don’t know how you tweak it to please the NFL when the whole movie is about the NFL not being honest about their concussion policy and what they knew back in the day." FS1’s George Wrighster said, “If Will Smith were not in this ‘Concussion’ movie, this movie would get buried. It wouldn’t be made. We would be trying to find it on video-on-demand. The NFL itself has so much power. They can leverage anybody, even people that they are not in business with" (“Fox Sports Live: Countdown,” FS1, 9/2).
SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT? The N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola called the NFL "teflon," and said, "Nothing effects the NFL and I don't think this movie will at all.” But the L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke said of the movie and the league's concussion issue, "This takes it into the mainstream. Moms and families will watch this. This is Will Smith, beloved and trusted actor, looking the NFL in the eyes and saying, ‘Tell the truth.’ The NFL should be worried about this because the perception is reality here.” ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan said the book “League of Denial” should have “scared the NFL to death, and did, but unfortunately didn’t get enough play." MacMullan: "This is different. This is Hollywood, this is Will Smith" (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 9/1).
