Extra, get your Extra, for movie swag bag
“Jake Tyler never goes looking for trouble, but it always seems to find him.“
That’s the first line of a press release describing Jeff Wadlow’s new movie, “Never Back Down.“
The plot, that Virginia Film Festival guru Richard Herskowitz describes as “The Karate Kid Goes to Fight Club,“ is something like this:
Tyler - played by Sean Faris - was a high school football star in his Iowa hometown. But after moving to Orlando, the kid with the big heart is suddenly a fish out of water.
Well, boy falls for girl (Amber Heard). Boy gets beaten up by a bully (Cam Gigandet). Boy meets a mixed martial arts mentor (Djimon Hounsou). And ... the rest you have to see for yourself.
We already had a glimpse of the film. Wadlow, a Charlottesville native, showed us a preview during the Adrenaline Film Project at last year’s film festival.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Wadlow will return to show the entire film at a special free screening in Newcomb Hall Theater.
The movie isn’t scheduled to be released nationally until March 14.
“Jeff suggested to Summit [Entertainment] that they do a special preview here, and then called me,“ Herskowitz said. “I called the students at Newcomb’s UPC Cinematheque to partner with us.
“They were already well aware of the film from all its Internet buzz and were thrilled.“
On top of that, Summit has sent a slew of “Never Back Down” merchandise to give away for free. Here’s how you can get some. Get a copy of the Extra section in the March 7 edition of The Daily Progress and take it with you to the screening. The first 25 people to show up with newspaper will get free stuff - caps, towels, lanyards and posters.
Here’s another tip. Go a little early. They plan to start handing out free movie tickets at 6 p.m.
Save me some popcorn.
Posted by Mary Alice Blackwell at 11:40 AM. Filed under:
(0) Comments • Permalink
Mary Alice Blackwell was a sportswriter for 11 years before turning in her scorebook to cover cops and courts. The Virginia Tech Hokie joined the staff of The Daily Progress in 1987 and has spent the past dozen or so years writing about actors, musicians, artists, authors and, occasionally, her running buddies. 
