I just watched this demo of Madden 08 on Wii:
Imagine. The next football inspirational picture will be similar to The Replacements (Howard Deutch, 2000), but without the players’ strike as a source of conflict. I see it as all the starters get injured and are unable to play. It’s the middle of the season–new players are impossible to find. A fictional version of the NCAA won’t let the fictional pro team borrow players from area universities (and the schools aren’t going to give up their players either, not with their seasons still happening)… or something similar that would provide a bonafide reason for the desperate measures the team takes to find new backup players.
The general manager or head coach or whomever is in the middle of a string of phone calls and just happens to walk pass his kids playing football video games et voila. “Why do you play it with a remote when you can play it in real life?” “Cause, I don’t want to get pummeled every week for a season and risk a head injury when there are other things I want to do when I get older.” or “Why play it for real and get hurt when I can do it here?”
Anywheres, the general manager or head coach reluctantly agrees to let his teenage son compile a list of the country’s best football gamers to come in for an “audition.” Of course, they’re going to come in all physiques and skill levels. Some are only good when they play against or with other players (gamers), while others are best when playing solo. A few of the gamers actually love football in real life and may have played in college or in high school.
Someone suggests a videogame competition between the gamers and the players–best out of five rounds. The gamers cream the players, and in comes the tensions. The combination of real-world experience/hands-on gameplay and analytical, virtual play help the team win the necessary games to make it to the playoffs…at which time the injured starters are fit enough to play again.
Yes, the film is going to be as formulaic as all good sports inspirational films, but endearingly so. And, there would be jokes about televised games creating the dominant model in which some people understand the game of football—to such an extreme that one of the gamers is surprised when there is no 1st and 10 line on the field that magically moves across the turf during game-play. You don’t actually make a touchdown in slow-motion, the instant replay software allows the slow-motion to happen.
