Ironmen Film Bringing Legendary Hawkeye Nile Kinnick to Big Screen

Has the guy not reached out to Tom Arnold or Ashton Kutcher? I'd think those two guys coulda helped get that off the ground a heck of a lot faster. Maybe they wouldn't fund it all but they have connections to say the least that could scrounge up 15 large. I'd be surprised if those two guys wouldn't have wanted to be neck deep in helping get this movie made in some way.
 
Finally. The story line should be there even for the not so best football fans or people who don't really know of him at this point. In addition, football fans can appreciate the 1939 team's results. Also really cool is going back in age with the movie setting. Those are always neat to watch.

Key is to get a high profile director and at least two high profile actors.
 
Brian Finley wrote this story for us. He said they have some big names interested in the project. I'm interested to see how things develop. This could be great.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
Finally. The story line should be there even for the not so best football fans or people who don't really know of him at this point. In addition, football fans can appreciate the 1939 team's results. Also really cool is going back in age with the movie setting. Those are always neat to watch.

Key is to get a high profile director and at least two high profile actors.
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Absolutely. It might not be 'Rudy' but it's one heck of a good story to tell. Getting the right director and actor or two as you say would make all the difference. Promoting that so it's not just an Iowa or even Midwest deal is what'll let it sink or swim. That's where getting a guy like Kutcher involved should have helped it take off. From what I've read about him he's extremely hands on with whatever project he's involved in and in no way would he have half assed anything with it and let it flop.
 
I hate to say it, but this movie is almost certainly going to be a complete embarrassment to Hawkeye fans, the University of Iowa, and the legacy of Nile Kinnick. Look, we all love Nile Kinnick and he has a great story, no doubt. But that doesn’t mean this movie is going to be any good, and the people involved with it would certainly indicate it won’t be.

I had to laugh at the characterization of Lidd’s book Nile as “mostly true-to-history...with a few small embellishments for the sake of storytelling.” Okay, then. First off, why does Kinnick’s story need “embellishing” at all? Second, I’d take issue with the “few” and “small” in that statement, as Lidd takes liberties all over the place in his book, and I have no doubt that the movie will double down on these “embellishments”.

Joe Heath has said on numerous occasions that his pitch of a Kinnick movie was met “over and over” with the statement, “Great story, but nobody knows who he is.” Look, I don’t doubt that he’s been told that once or twice as a blow-off line, but it doesn’t pass the smell test.

Remember the movie Hidden Figures from just last year? Won a couple of Oscars about the true stories of three black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. Who knew who Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were before that movie came out? Pretty much nobody. They were no more famous than Nile Kinnick is.

12 Years A Slave, Unbroken, Hacksaw Ridge...I can do this all day. Far from every “based on a true story” movie is about someone already famous. If you have a great story, the movie makes them famous. So the fact that anyone in Hollywood would flinch at a Kinnick movie due to a lack of name recognition when movies based on relative unknowns are taking home Oscars and doing very well at the box office every single year is garbage.

But this all goes back to Joe Heath, who – because he spent some time in Los Angeles, like about 10 million other people – is seen as somehow capable of delivering Kinnick’s story to the big screen. His resume is filled with B-horror movie shlock and groundbreaking roles like the voice of Prison Dog in the animated holiday classic Up on the Wooftop. So yeah, I’m not stunned that Tom Arnold and Ashton Kutcher haven’t jumped on board yet.

A lot of talk about a $15 million dollar budget and a big planned premiere at a football stadium, but little beyond that. Heath mentions a big studio that’s ready to support distribution, being in talks with a big name director, and of course, some really well-known actors to play Kinnick and Dr. Eddie Anderson. But naturally, he hasn’t named any of them, and that’s where the rubber hits the road.

I have no doubt that with the well-intentioned help of Mark Jennings, they’ve been able to sucker some big Hawkeye donors into throwing some real money at this project. But my confidence in Heath, Lidd, and their crew to be able to produce a quality Nile Kinnick movie is virtually nil. I hope I’m wrong, because Nile Kinnick deserves better. But I’ve seen nothing thus far to fan those hopes.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Absolutely. It might not be 'Rudy' but it's one heck of a good story to tell. Getting the right director and actor or two as you say would make all the difference. Promoting that so it's not just an Iowa or even Midwest deal is what'll let it sink or swim. That's where getting a guy like Kutcher involved should have helped it take off. From what I've read about him he's extremely hands on with whatever project he's involved in and in no way would he have half assed anything with it and let it flop.
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I would think college football fans as a whole would find interesting. Many have heard or identify with Kinnick stadium and just might be interested in the history of why the stadium is named after him and understanding who he was. Think about that movie and including raw footage of Kinnick's Heisman trophy speech to make it real for the viewers. Sends chills just thinking about it.
 
DCRozehawk said:
I hate to say it, but this movie is almost certainly going to be a complete embarrassment to Hawkeye fans, the University of Iowa, and the legacy of Nile Kinnick. Look, we all love Nile Kinnick and he has a great story, no doubt. But that doesn’t mean this movie is going to be any good, and the people involved with it would certainly indicate it won’t be.

I had to laugh at the characterization of Lidd’s book Nile as “mostly true-to-history...with a few small embellishments for the sake of storytelling.” Okay, then. First off, why does Kinnick’s story need “embellishing” at all? Second, I’d take issue with the “few” and “small” in that statement, as Lidd takes liberties all over the place in his book, and I have no doubt that the movie will double down on these “embellishments”.

Joe Heath has said on numerous occasions that his pitch of a Kinnick movie was met “over and over” with the statement, “Great story, but nobody knows who he is.” Look, I don’t doubt that he’s been told that once or twice as a blow-off line, but it doesn’t pass the smell test.

Remember the movie Hidden Figures from just last year? Won a couple of Oscars about the true stories of three black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. Who knew who Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were before that movie came out? Pretty much nobody. They were no more famous than Nile Kinnick is.

12 Years A Slave, Unbroken, Hacksaw Ridge...I can do this all day. Far from every “based on a true story” movie is about someone already famous. If you have a great story, the movie makes them famous. So the fact that anyone in Hollywood would flinch at a Kinnick movie due to a lack of name recognition when movies based on relative unknowns are taking home Oscars and doing very well at the box office every single year is garbage.

But this all goes back to Joe Heath, who – because he spent some time in Los Angeles, like about 10 million other people – is seen as somehow capable of delivering Kinnick’s story to the big screen. His resume is filled with B-horror movie shlock and groundbreaking roles like the voice of Prison Dog in the animated holiday classic Up on the Wooftop. So yeah, I’m not stunned that Tom Arnold and Ashton Kutcher haven’t jumped on board yet.

A lot of talk about a $15 million dollar budget and a big planned premiere at a football stadium, but little beyond that. Heath mentions a big studio that’s ready to support distribution, being in talks with a big name director, and of course, some really well-known actors to play Kinnick and Dr. Eddie Anderson. But naturally, he hasn’t named any of them, and that’s where the rubber hits the road.

I have no doubt that with the well-intentioned help of Mark Jennings, they’ve been able to sucker some big Hawkeye donors into throwing some real money at this project. But my confidence in Heath, Lidd, and their crew to be able to produce a quality Nile Kinnick movie is virtually nil. I hope I’m wrong, because Nile Kinnick deserves better. But I’ve seen nothing thus far to fan those hopes.
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GET OFF MY LAWN!!
 
MelroseHawkins said:
I would think college football fans as a whole would find interesting. Many have heard or identify with Kinnick stadium and just might be interested in the history of why the stadium is named after him and understanding who he was. Think about that movie and including raw footage of Kinnick's Heisman trophy speech to make it real for the viewers. Sends chills just thinking about it.
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True I'd like to think so but I'm afraid that's still a smaller nitch. Your not going to probably get many 16-25 yr olds down with it without some big name recognizable actors in it. The folks over 35 that are football junkies that would pay to watch this might not be as many as we'd hope. I really hope your right nothing would tickle me more than it being bigger than what Rudy was. I just don't have that high of hopes.

I agree showing his Heisman speech at the end in true form is the only way to go. I don't think any actor could do it justice frankly. Nobody speaks like that now and it's just amazing. There's a reason it's stood the test of time as the best there's ever been and it's not just because of his untimely death.
 
DCRozehawk said:
I hate to say it, but this movie is almost certainly going to be a complete embarrassment to Hawkeye fans, the University of Iowa, and the legacy of Nile Kinnick. Look, we all love Nile Kinnick and he has a great story, no doubt. But that doesn’t mean this movie is going to be any good, and the people involved with it would certainly indicate it won’t be.

I had to laugh at the characterization of Lidd’s book Nile as “mostly true-to-history...with a few small embellishments for the sake of storytelling.” Okay, then. First off, why does Kinnick’s story need “embellishing” at all? Second, I’d take issue with the “few” and “small” in that statement, as Lidd takes liberties all over the place in his book, and I have no doubt that the movie will double down on these “embellishments”.

Joe Heath has said on numerous occasions that his pitch of a Kinnick movie was met “over and over” with the statement, “Great story, but nobody knows who he is.” Look, I don’t doubt that he’s been told that once or twice as a blow-off line, but it doesn’t pass the smell test.

Remember the movie Hidden Figures from just last year? Won a couple of Oscars about the true stories of three black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. Who knew who Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were before that movie came out? Pretty much nobody. They were no more famous than Nile Kinnick is.

12 Years A Slave, Unbroken, Hacksaw Ridge...I can do this all day. Far from every “based on a true story” movie is about someone already famous. If you have a great story, the movie makes them famous. So the fact that anyone in Hollywood would flinch at a Kinnick movie due to a lack of name recognition when movies based on relative unknowns are taking home Oscars and doing very well at the box office every single year is garbage.

But this all goes back to Joe Heath, who – because he spent some time in Los Angeles, like about 10 million other people – is seen as somehow capable of delivering Kinnick’s story to the big screen. His resume is filled with B-horror movie shlock and groundbreaking roles like the voice of Prison Dog in the animated holiday classic Up on the Wooftop. So yeah, I’m not stunned that Tom Arnold and Ashton Kutcher haven’t jumped on board yet.

A lot of talk about a $15 million dollar budget and a big planned premiere at a football stadium, but little beyond that. Heath mentions a big studio that’s ready to support distribution, being in talks with a big name director, and of course, some really well-known actors to play Kinnick and Dr. Eddie Anderson. But naturally, he hasn’t named any of them, and that’s where the rubber hits the road.

I have no doubt that with the well-intentioned help of Mark Jennings, they’ve been able to sucker some big Hawkeye donors into throwing some real money at this project. But my confidence in Heath, Lidd, and their crew to be able to produce a quality Nile Kinnick movie is virtually nil. I hope I’m wrong, because Nile Kinnick deserves better. But I’ve seen nothing thus far to fan those hopes.
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Those to me are the WORST part of what Hollywood always does with true stories. Be it sports related or otherwise. The Blind Side movie on the Michael Oher story was terrible in regards to that and Oher himself hated it. Yet he's cashing the residuals from it I'm sure. I think Kurt Warners story has a movie in the works and I'm scared of how they'll butcher that.

With Kinnicks story I can't see why any liberties/embellishing needs to take place. And if Hollywood could for one time in their lives just not cut corners and see how that'd go it'd sure be a welcome change.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
GET OFF MY LAWN!!
Click to expand...

:)

Don’t get me wrong...I’m not a stodgy stick-in-the-mud who is unilaterally opposed to the idea of a Kinnick movie. I’d love to see a great Kinnick movie, too, the kind that gives viewers the chills you mentioned.

This movie won’t be that...it’ll give you chills, all right, but not the kind you’re talking about. More like watching the Crackhawk of sports movies.

I’m glad Hawkfnntn mentioned Rudy. How many people knew who Rudy Ruettiger was before that movie came out? He wasn’t as famous as Kinnick, I know that. So again...Heath’s story about why his pitch was turned down years ago by the Hollywood elites doesn’t have the ring of truth.

Heath often talks about his idea of a premiere at the stadium getting the movie project greenlit by “people on the west coast.” Uh...what people? He’s never, ever said. And he talks about a movie studio that is supplying a large portion of the eight-figure budget, but he never says who they are. What kind of a studio commits major financing to a film and then says, “Shhhh...but don’t tell anyone we’re involved!” Am I wrong to be skeptical?

I just think Hawk fans are letting their dreams of what the movie could be cloud them from the reality of what these guys actually bring to the table. I have no confidence that even if they are able to raise millions and millions of dollars that they could produce a movie worthy of Kinnick's legacy...there is literally nothing in the resumes of anyone currently involved with the movie that would suggest they can deliver on a project like this. For Kinnick’s sake, I totally agree that the best possible outcome would be to bring a heavy hitter like Ashton to the table. Despite all the talk of the “big names interested in the project”, I haven’t seen one actually sign up for this project yet, and "interest" isn't "signed on the dotted line." At least until then, I’d say extreme caution is in order.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Those to me are the WORST part of what Hollywood always does with true stories. Be it sports related or otherwise. The Blind Side movie on the Michael Oher story was terrible in regards to that and Oher himself hated it. Yet he's cashing the residuals from it I'm sure. I think Kurt Warners story has a movie in the works and I'm scared of how they'll butcher that.

With Kinnicks story I can't see why any liberties/embellishing needs to take place. And if Hollywood could for one time in their lives just not cut corners and see how that'd go it'd sure be a welcome change.
Click to expand...

Completely agree...I can’t see why any embellishing needs to take place, either. That didn’t stop Lidd from publishing a book with numerous inaccuracies about the Ironmen and Kinnick’s life. (No, Kinnick never met Ronald Reagan or played a football game with JFK as his coach.) But the book was a big seller because it has a great cover and people love them some Nile Kinnick, for good reason. So I’m sure Lidd probably figures they can get away with embellishing Kinnick’s legacy once again.

Just in case you think I’m pulling these criticisms out of thin air...I actually read an early version of the movie’s screenplay. This was several years back, so maybe they have changed it since then. But if the screenplay I read is what they use to make this Nile Kinnick movie – and it may very well be – then tens of thousands of Hawkeye fans are going to leave the stadium the fall after next with chills, too. And not the good kind.
 
DCRozehawk said:
Completely agree...I can’t see why any embellishing needs to take place, either. That didn’t stop Lidd from publishing a book with numerous inaccuracies about the Ironmen and Kinnick’s life. (No, Kinnick never met Ronald Reagan or played a football game with JFK as his coach.) But the book was a big seller because it has a great cover and people love them some Nile Kinnick, for good reason. So I’m sure Lidd probably figures they can get away with embellishing Kinnick’s legacy once again.

Just in case you think I’m pulling these criticisms out of thin air...I actually read an early version of the movie’s screenplay. This was several years back, so maybe they have changed it since then. But if the screenplay I read is what they use to make this Nile Kinnick movie – and it may very well be – then tens of thousands of Hawkeye fans are going to leave the stadium the fall after next with chills, too. And not the good kind.
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Guess all we can do is hold our breaths... But yeah if they try to 'Hollywood it up" it'll only flop worse amongst those that'd care the most.
 
DCRozehawk said:
:)

Don’t get me wrong...I’m not a stodgy stick-in-the-mud who is unilaterally opposed to the idea of a Kinnick movie. I’d love to see a great Kinnick movie, too, the kind that gives viewers the chills you mentioned.

This movie won’t be that...it’ll give you chills, all right, but not the kind you’re talking about. More like watching the Crackhawk of sports movies.

I’m glad Hawkfnntn mentioned Rudy. How many people knew who Rudy Ruettiger was before that movie came out? He wasn’t as famous as Kinnick, I know that. So again...Heath’s story about why his pitch was turned down years ago by the Hollywood elites doesn’t have the ring of truth.

Heath often talks about his idea of a premiere at the stadium getting the movie project greenlit by “people on the west coast.” Uh...what people? He’s never, ever said. And he talks about a movie studio that is supplying a large portion of the eight-figure budget, but he never says who they are. What kind of a studio commits major financing to a film and then says, “Shhhh...but don’t tell anyone we’re involved!” Am I wrong to be skeptical?

I just think Hawk fans are letting their dreams of what the movie could be cloud them from the reality of what these guys actually bring to the table. I have no confidence that even if they are able to raise millions and millions of dollars that they could produce a movie worthy of Kinnick's legacy...there is literally nothing in the resumes of anyone currently involved with the movie that would suggest they can deliver on a project like this. For Kinnick’s sake, I totally agree that the best possible outcome would be to bring a heavy hitter like Ashton to the table. Despite all the talk of the “big names interested in the project”, I haven’t seen one actually sign up for this project yet, and "interest" isn't "signed on the dotted line." At least until then, I’d say extreme caution is in order.
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I completely get where you are going or thinking as I thought about that as well when initially heard of it. I will comment later on this with my thoughts as have to getting going now. If done absolutely correct, I think it could make it and be entertaining. But, again, that involves a great director, producer and at least 2 high profile actors/actresses.
I am envisioning more as a movie based on true life events more than a documentary. I mean you have the Iowa story with the team, Nile Kinnick, the depression and war time. Many story lines.
 
DCRozehawk said:
I hate to say it, but this movie is almost certainly going to be a complete embarrassment to Hawkeye fans, the University of Iowa, and the legacy of Nile Kinnick. Look, we all love Nile Kinnick and he has a great story, no doubt. But that doesn’t mean this movie is going to be any good, and the people involved with it would certainly indicate it won’t be.

I had to laugh at the characterization of Lidd’s book Nile as “mostly true-to-history...with a few small embellishments for the sake of storytelling.” Okay, then. First off, why does Kinnick’s story need “embellishing” at all? Second, I’d take issue with the “few” and “small” in that statement, as Lidd takes liberties all over the place in his book, and I have no doubt that the movie will double down on these “embellishments”.

Joe Heath has said on numerous occasions that his pitch of a Kinnick movie was met “over and over” with the statement, “Great story, but nobody knows who he is.” Look, I don’t doubt that he’s been told that once or twice as a blow-off line, but it doesn’t pass the smell test.

Remember the movie Hidden Figures from just last year? Won a couple of Oscars about the true stories of three black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. Who knew who Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were before that movie came out? Pretty much nobody. They were no more famous than Nile Kinnick is.

12 Years A Slave, Unbroken, Hacksaw Ridge...I can do this all day. Far from every “based on a true story” movie is about someone already famous. If you have a great story, the movie makes them famous. So the fact that anyone in Hollywood would flinch at a Kinnick movie due to a lack of name recognition when movies based on relative unknowns are taking home Oscars and doing very well at the box office every single year is garbage.

But this all goes back to Joe Heath, who – because he spent some time in Los Angeles, like about 10 million other people – is seen as somehow capable of delivering Kinnick’s story to the big screen. His resume is filled with B-horror movie shlock and groundbreaking roles like the voice of Prison Dog in the animated holiday classic Up on the Wooftop. So yeah, I’m not stunned that Tom Arnold and Ashton Kutcher haven’t jumped on board yet.

A lot of talk about a $15 million dollar budget and a big planned premiere at a football stadium, but little beyond that. Heath mentions a big studio that’s ready to support distribution, being in talks with a big name director, and of course, some really well-known actors to play Kinnick and Dr. Eddie Anderson. But naturally, he hasn’t named any of them, and that’s where the rubber hits the road.

I have no doubt that with the well-intentioned help of Mark Jennings, they’ve been able to sucker some big Hawkeye donors into throwing some real money at this project. But my confidence in Heath, Lidd, and their crew to be able to produce a quality Nile Kinnick movie is virtually nil. I hope I’m wrong, because Nile Kinnick deserves better. But I’ve seen nothing thus far to fan those hopes.
Click to expand...

Hidden Figures? That is the classic example of ridiculously embellishing a story that was supposed to based on real people. Taking 3 historical black women that worked for NASA in different decades in different departments and making them best friends working at NASA all at the same time. Then throw in the old cliches of black and white bathrooms and racist co-workers only for the hero's to overcome it all to save the day with thier amazing superhuman math ability and earn the respect of everyone. You got to love happy endings.
 
guffus said:
Hidden Figures? That is the classic example of ridiculously embellishing a story that was supposed to based on real people. Taking 3 historical black women that worked for NASA in different decades in different departments and making them best friends working at NASA all at the same time. Then throw in the old cliches of black and white bathrooms and racist co-workers only for the hero's to overcome it all to save the day with thier amazing superhuman math ability and earn the respect of everyone. You got to love happy endings.
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Are you saying that Hollywood spews lies and bends reality for social/political purposes? I am shaken to the very core, sir!
 
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