Warner Bros. wants you to know they’re not messing around when it comes to promoting their raunchy new comedy Fist Fight. While the film has previously been teased with the traditional green band, approved for all audiences approach, the studio is now taking full advantage of the much more restricted red band trailer’s capability to show off the goods before its release date.
The four-letter words fly faster than the fists (they wouldn’t dare giveaway the big match just yet). The trailer also doesn’t shy away from obscene sight gags, and the mandatory slapstick violence typical of a big studio, early year release comedy.
Fist Fight marks the directorial debut of Richie Keen, best known for his television work, which includes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Coming over from that series is Charlie Day, no stranger to these WB comedies, having starred in two Horrible Bosses films. Co-star Ice Cube takes a break from playing the police for laughs (though a Ride Along 3 is on the way). In this new trailer he even quotes the rap that put him and N.W.A. on the map.
In the film, both actors play stressed-out teachers at a high school in the midst of budget cuts and, from the looks of this new trailer, an extremely dysfunctional administration. Tempers rise between the two, ultimately resulting in resolving their “differences like real men” in an after school throw down. Naturally the news of the fight spreads throughout the student body and beyond the teacher’s lounge.
It all sounds, and kind of looks, very much like the cult 1987 comedy Three O’Clock High, right down to the scheduled time of the fight. Yet, the pairing via feuding, of Day and Cube is promising. They’re clearly playing against each other’s comedic strengths. Adding to the appeal of this new trailer is Tracy Morgan, who gets most of the good lines. This is the first big-screen film since Morgan’s 2014 car accident.
If this film lands a solid punch opening weekend, it’s possible we’ll see Cube and Day paired together again. Cube serves as executive producer of Fist Fight, and has been known to franchise most of the comedies he’s appeared in. In the meantime, Day will next be seen reprising Dr. Newton Geiszler in the currently filming sequel to another rock-em-sock-em battle – Pacific Rim: Uprising.
Next: Fist Fight Trailer #2: Choose a Side
Source: Warner Bros.
- Fist Fight Release Date: 2017-02-17
