The trailer for the upcoming movie “Big George Foreman” has been released, highlighting the famed boxer’s journey from heavyweight champion to shepherd and then heavyweight champion again.
Released on April 28, “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World” stars Forest Whitaker, Khris Davis and Sullivan Jones. It is directed by George Tillman Jr. from a story by Dan Gordon, Frank Baldwin and Tillman Jr., from a screenplay by Baldwin Tillman Jr.
The film is based on the remarkable true story of one of the “greatest comebacks of all time and the transformative power of second chances,” according to the film’s synopsis.
“Fueled by an impoverished childhood, Foreman channeled his anger to become an Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight champion of the world, followed by a near-death experience that took him from the boxing ring to the pulpit,” he continues. “But when he sees his community struggling spiritually and financially, Foreman returns to the ring and makes history by reclaiming his title, becoming boxing’s longest-running and most unlikely heavyweight world champion in history.”
According to Variety, the upcoming film will follow the highlights of Foreman’s boxing career, including his winning Olympic gold at the 1968 Mexico City Games and his career as a heavyweight champion of the world. But it will also cover Foreman finding his faith, retiring and becoming a preacher.
Foreman was ordained a minister in 1978 and founded the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston, Texas, in 1980. In the trailer, he reflects on how sometimes preaching is “as hard” as getting “punched in the face.”
The biopic also documents Foreman’s triumphant return to the ring at the age of 45, when his family and church were facing financial difficulties. He went on to claim the heavyweight champion title, becoming the oldest in boxing history to do so.
The athlete won two heavyweight titles in 1973 and then in 1994, almost a decade later. His “Rumble in the Jungle” fight with Muhammad Ali, who is played by Jones in the film, is one of the most famous boxing events in the history of the sport. Foreman retired with a career record of 76-5 (68 by knockout).
Foreman reflected on his move from boxing to ministry in his 2007 memoir, God in My Corner.
“(In the late 1970s) I had been preaching occasionally at church and I loved to preach, so I bought thirty minutes of radio time at a Houston station and kept preaching. On my show, I talked a little bit about boxing. and a lot about the good Lord. I lived in Humble, a suburb of Houston, so when I went into town to do my radio show, it was not unusual for various friends from my old church to ask me to lead a Bible study. to pray with them, three or four of us would meet in various houses, soon there were six or eight, then ten people attending,” he wrote.
“I didn’t really intend to start a new church, but it eventually paid off for us to get organized.”
“Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World” also stars Jasmine Mathews, Sullivan Jones, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., John Magaro and Sonja Sohn.
Watch the trailer below.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. You can reach her at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
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