Saban Films Scores Laurence Fishburne Football Drama “Under the Stadium Lights”

I grew up in Texas and attended every football game in high school in one capacity or another. I also love every iteration of Friday Night Lights: Buzz Bissinger's monumental best-seller, Peter Berg's greatest cinematic achievement, and of course the legendary TV show starring Kyle Chandler. So I'm always down for any well-done drama about my home state's religious devotion to the game.

Saban Films has now acquired what sounds like one of the more compelling films of 2021. Originally titled Brother's Keeper, Under the Stadium Lights stars Laurence Fishburne as the mentor of the Abilene High School football team, which defied the odds to win the state championship in 2009. The film marks the feature debut of Todd Randall and co-stars Milo Gibson (The Outpost), Abigail Hawk (TV's Blue Bloods) and Glenn Morshower (Moneyball). Production wrapped in 2019.

Under the Stadium Lights has not been given a release date yet.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.