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Kurt Warner’s ‘American Underdog’ movie screening early in Cedar Rapids
Film will screen at Marcus Cinemas on Friday and Saturday before opening nationwide on Christmas Day
Dec. 16, 2021 4:59 pm, Updated: Dec. 16, 2021 7:54 pm
Kurt Warner’s rags-to-riches story has been told many times in The Gazette and all over Iowa. All over the country, really.
The former Cedar Rapids Regis prep quarterback who waited in the wings at Northern Iowa before finally taking charge as a senior, earning Gateway Conference offensive player of the year honors and leading the Panthers to the playoffs.
A man who dreamed of playing in the NFL, starred in the Arena Football League and stocked shelves at a grocery store before finally getting his shot with the St. Louis Rams.
An NFL and Super Bowl MVP who is the first native Iowan inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Buy tickets
To get tickets for the early screening of “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story,” visit marcustheatres.com or purchase at the box office. Shows are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Marcus Cinema in Cedar Rapids, 5340 Council St NE, and at some other Marcus theaters in Iowa and nationwide.
Now his story is coming to the big screen. “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” will be released on Christmas Day, but will be screened Friday and Saturday, with a special “Post Game” bonus, at Marcus Cinema in Cedar Rapids (7 p.m.).
“Most people have their supermarket moment," Warner, 50, told the Christian Post. "Most people have that time where they're like, 'All right, how did I get here? And how do I get out of here? I can't even see the path forward to what I really want to be in life.' And so they resonate with them, those moments."
Zachary Levi stars as Warner, Anna Paquin plays Brenda Warner and Dennis Quaid is Rams coach Dick Vermeil. Adam Baldwin plays Terry Allen, Warner’s coach at UNI.
Warner said the movie is coming out a perfect time.
"People need to see real life,“ Warner said in the Christian Post story. ”They need to understand that this is a real story. ... Your circumstances don't have to be what defines you. Your circumstances don't have to be what shapes the final narrative of your life.
“There's a lot of people that have found themselves in situations they never thought they would find themselves in, that 'underdog role' ... It will connect with all of those people in different ways. And I believe it can help challenge them and push them forward.”
Comments: (319) 398-8461; jr.ogden@thegazette.com
Actor Zachary Levi (left) and Kurt Warner, the football player he portrays in the movie "American Underdog," pose Wednesday the premier at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Associated Press)
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