Author: Newsroom
NEW YORK, NY (August 8, 2024) – It was announced today that mTuckman Media will release The Featherweight, Emmy winner Robert Kolodny’s (cinematographer of Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) feature directorial debut which follows the true story of the legendary 2x World Featherweight boxing champion Willie Pep, in theaters this September. Appian Way Productions and Golden Ratio Films produced the picture. The impressive cast is led by James Madio (The Penguin, Band of Brothers) with a career best performance as Willie Pep, alongside Ruby Wolf in her feature debut, Keir Gilchrist (Love & Death, Atypical), Stephen Lang (Avatar Franchise), Ron Livingston (The Flash, Loudermilk) Lawrence Gilliard Jr (The Walking Dead, One Night in Miami…), Shari Albert (The Brothers McMullen) and undefeated professional featherweight boxer Bruce Carrington. The film will have a theatrical release in New York as well opening in theaters across Pep’s hometown state of Connecticut on September 20th and will open in Los Angeles on September 27th. It had its world premiere last year at the 80th Venice International Film Festival with a six minute standing ovation and currently has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Set in the mid-1960s in Hartford, Connecticut, The Featherweight presents a gripping chapter in the true-life story of Italian-American boxer Willie Pep (James Madio)—the winningest fighter of all time—who, down and out in his mid-40s and with his personal life in shambles, decides to make a return to the ring, at which point a documentary camera crew enters his life. Painstakingly researched and constructed, the film is a visceral portrait of the discontents of twentieth-century American masculinity, fame and self-perception.
Following its Venice Film Festival premiere, The Featherweight played film festivals around the world, including the Provincetown International Film Festival where Kolodny received the John Schlesinger Award for Best Director of a narrative film. The picture has been praised for its technical aspects as it recreates the 60s in vivid detail and intersperses staged and archival boxing footage, framing the narrative through the lens of a documentary crew following Pep as he comes out of retirement and returns to the ring. Madio prepared for the role by training with John “The Iceman” Scully who knew Pep for over 30 years, and was trained by one of Pep’s training partners, Joe Barile. Scully put Madio through months of training so he could accurately capture the techniques and movement of Pep.
“It is a thrill to present The Featherweight to audiences, a film that our brilliant cast and exceptional crew so diligently put their entire hearts into. The story of Willie Pep is such an American tale, one of great highs and terrible lows. He is not only a world class prizefighter on the verge of coming undone, he is also the quintessential mid-century man, with all his faults and fissures laid bare before the camera,” said Kolodny.
“Producers have been trying to bring Willie Pep’s story to the big screen for decades and we are thrilled and honored to finally get it done. Pep has the most wins in boxing history and most have never heard of him. We’re hoping The Featherweight will change that while also solidifying his legacy as one of the greatest to ever lace them up,” added writer and producer Steve Loff.
Loff (Desert Rain) wrote the script and produced in addition to Madio, Bennett Elliott, Robert Greene (who also edited the film), Asger Hussain and Abhayanand Singh. Executive Producers include two-time Oscar nominee Steve James, Jennifer Davisson, Michael Hampton, Brian Liebman, Mark Hantoot, Donna Collins, Angelo DeFazio, Abhay Deol and Jay Giannone.
