Just as Boston Celtics fans presumably didn’t enjoy seeing their rival New York Knicks defeat the Spurs in this year’s NBA Finals, they also may not want to be reminded that Beantown’s basketball-focused comedy Celtic pride He had trouble registering with audiences 30 years ago. The film starred Dan Aykroyd and Daniel Stern as loyal Celtics fans who unwittingly kidnap Utah Jazz star Louis Scott (Damon Wayans) in their efforts to help their team win Game 7 of the Finals.
Director Tom Di Serchio, who directed Jim Carrey Ace Ventura The sequel is halfway through production, making his directorial debut with Celtic pride. He credited early screenwriting credit to Judd Apatow, who collaborated on the film’s story with his friend Colin Quinn. Di Serchio recalls that he was working on rewriting the script at Apatow’s house, which he had recently purchased from his mentor Garry Shandling, and that after a week, Apatow needed to travel to the set in Vancouver. Happy Gilmore To help his former roommate Adam Sandler bat. “Instead of avoiding me, Jude immediately asked me out with Adam. [producer] “Jack Giarrapoto and the rest of their crew,” Di Serchio says. THR. “I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. Jude is a man’s man in every sense of the word.”
Wayans trained with college players Kevin Bennett and Bert Harris Jr. to improve his on-court skills before shooting the film for a month at Boston Garden, the former home of the Celtics that was soon slated for demolition. “All I remember is the pain,” Wayans said at the time of the grueling photo shoot involving Celtic legends Larry Bird, Bob Cousy and Red Auerbach. “Even players in the NBA don’t play basketball 12 hours a day.”
Disney released Celtic pride on April 19, 1996, and grossed only $9 million at the box office ($19 million today), with THRA review notes that it suffered from “uneven” tonal shifts. For his part, Di Serchio fondly remembers his association with the Boston stars who filled the arena: “I still resent them because the movie didn’t turn out better.”
This story appeared in the June 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.
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