There’s a variety of reasons that a completed or near-completed film will go unreleased. Financial burdens, creative differences, and real-life scandals involving someone connected with a project have each been responsible for derailing plans for theatrical or home video distribution. Most recently, and infamously,Warner Bros. andDC’sBatgirlwas removed from the industry’s release schedule. Whilesome have attributed that film’s shelving to poor test screenings, others have claimedWarner Bros. was looking to cut costs after merging withDiscovery. But the unfortunate fact remains in how many hours of hard work among filmmakers, performers, and crew members will presumably never see the light of day.
In recent years, there has been another film, albeit made for much less thanBatgirl’s reported $90 million budget, that found itself trapped in cinematic limbo.All-Star Weekend,a comedy co-written and directed byJamie Foxx(in his directorial debut), was filmed in 2016, but has yet to see the light of day. Starring alongside the Oscar-winner areJeremy Piven,Eva Longoria,Robert Downey Jr., andBenicio Del Toro,among a long list of others. Six years later, the film has no plans for a theatrical or home video release. But while it’s not exactly known why the film has continually been delayed, those who’ve been on record since its production, particularly Foxx, have offered some insight as to why audiences may never it.
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What Is ‘All-Star Weekend’ About?
The filmhas been characterized as a sports-comedyabout two friends who are basketball fanatics (Foxx and Piven). Foxx’s character is reportedly a die hard fan of Steph Curry, and Piven is a worshiper ofLeBron James. While on their way to an NBA All-Star Game, they encounter an ensemble of larger-than-life characters and, presumably, hilarity ensues. According to Foxx,several actors in the film portray characters of different ethnicities and nationalities, with some performers even playing multiple characters. Robert Downey Jr. plays a Mexican man, one of Foxx’s characters is a “white, racist cop” and Gerard Butler portrays a “Russian who loves gymnastics.” While little to nothing is known specifically regarding what kinds of shenanigans the characters find themselves in and the types of tropes illuminated, one can assume that the film was initially intended to be a fun, perhaps outrageous outing, but veered into provocative buddy-comedy subgenre.
The Kind of Comedy ‘All-Star Weekend’ Is Going For
In terms ofactors playing multiple characters, it can be speculated how Foxx and his collaborators followed in the tradition of legendary performers, particularly those specialized in the type of comedy that finds performers donning numerous personas in a single film. Performers likePeter Sellers,Eddie Murphy, andMike Myershave regularly engaged in such performative experimentation, building versatile reputations with voices, accents, and a wide range of physicality for the sake of comedy. Sellers' handful of widely-divergent characters inStanley Kubrick’sDr. Strangeloveis arguably one of the most iconic comedic powerhouses in cinematic history, while Murphy’s turns as plethora of characters inComing to AmericaandThe Nutty Professordisplayed a level of variety and nuance that’s undeniably impressive. Aside from this assumption aboutAll-Star Weekend’s approach to comedy, it could be inferred how the film is intended to be a lighthearted romp in the vein of buddy-comedies that have entertained audiences for decades. However, in the ever-shifting comedy landscape, Foxx’s film seems to have run into a certain amount of criticism relating to non-BIPOC actors stepping into characters that represent particular aspects of one’s identity.
‘Tropic Thunder’ and Robert Downey Jr.’s Performance
The presumed controversy surroundingAll-Star Weekendcan’t be explored without acknowledging a glaring similarity to 2008’sTropic Thunder, not just because it also co-starred Downey, but because it famously (or now infamously) saw the actor cross racial boundaries in portraying a cooky method actor. WhileTropic Thunderwas an obvious satire of Hollywood,lampooning the excesses and eccentric quirksinherent among some in the industry while more specifically poking fun at the questionable and self-aggrandizing lengths performers go to inhabit a character, there was a level of pushback when the film was released. But as the critics didn’t seem to take issue with a white actor wearing blackface, instead it wasthe film’s humor and language regarding people with cognitive challengesthat met with backlash. Not only was Downey’s wearing blackface largely ignored at the time, his performance was heaped with praise and singled out as one of the film’s highlights. He was even nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Fourteen years later, however, the film andthe actor’s performance have since undergone a level of reevaluation.Downey has been on the record in expressing a certain amount of surprise over his performance initially not being met with the kind of opposition that some of today’s audiences would undoubtedly cast against it. At the same time, the actor reflected on and reasonably defended his decision to take the role, citing the notion thatTropic Thunderis, and always was meant to be, a satirical indictment of the self-important attitude among a number of artists across creative mediums. The film makes clear that it has no intention to normalize or encourage the idea of a white actor wearing blackface. On the contrary,Ben Stiller’s film and Downey’s performance offer a scathing and hilarious critique on exactly why performers would be better suited toavoidgoing to such lengths. Admittedly, one can argue howmaking such a statement about the nature of performancewhile simultaneously engaging in the very behavior they’re criticizing, filmmakers and actors are having their cake and eating it, too. But Downey’s portrayal of an eccentric method actor going as far as he does isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and that’s the point.
Six years after principal photography was completed, Foxx’s directorial-debut seems to have gained little to no traction in securing a release.He has since stated about his film, “It’s been tough with the lay of the land when it comes to comedy. We’re trying to break open the sensitive corners where people go back to laughing again." His co-star, Piven, expressed a certain amount of regret that the project may never reach audiences when he said, how “Jamie doesn’t want to release it” and the new director is “really hard on himself.” Further stating how Foxx’s ideal of perfectionism is holding him back, Piven adds how he’s “one of these dudes… [who] wants it to be perfect, so he’s been holding onto this thing for five years.” While it appears likely thatAll-Star Weekendwill go down in history as one of Hollywood’s most star-studded films to never be seen, perhaps the proverbial clouds will eventually part and audiences will have a chance to make up their own minds about it.
A Shifting Performative Landscape
In recent years, audiences and filmmakers have seen an evolving discourse pertaining to the relationship between individual identity and cinematic performance. Representation of various aspects of one’s identity, whether it relates to gender, race, sexuality or physicality, has seen a needed and welcome increase in frequency. At the same time, with the pendulum of public opinion always swinging, an attempt to rectify societal transgressions of the past can often cause that pendulum to swing a bit too far in one direction. Whether consideringScarlett Johansson’s decision not play a transgender characterdue to public backlash in 2018, orTom Hanks' recent commentsabout whether today’s political climate would allow him to play a gay character as he did in 1993’sPhiladelphia, there are those of the opinion that an aspect of a performer’s identity should have a direct correspondence with that of the role he or she is taking on.
As previously stated, representation certainly matters, and storytellers on both sides of the camera have made noble strides in increasing the visibility of performers and characters based on identity. Simultaneously, the notion of identity-based casting, if taken to its logical end result in which absolute synchronicity between a performer and character is required, would defeat the purpose of performance altogether. Such a standard, if equally set across the board, would beg a series of questions in terms of how stringently it should be applied. Can a performer who hasn’t been diagnosed with cancer play a character who has? Is it okay for an actor who hasn’t been diagnosed with a specific mental illness to play a character who has? Can a performer who doesn’t struggle with a particular affliction portray a character who does?Should Brendan Fraser not have been allowed to play Charlie inThe Whalebecause of the physical difference between the actor and his character?
While these kinds of questions may seem unusual or exaggerated on the surface, they’re necessary for understanding and establishing consistency surrounding the discussion of identity and performance. Jamie Foxx has stated of his approach to comedy, “People have to understand where it comes from. There are real people out there that really mean you harm.” In this context as it relates to entertainment, it’s crucial to recognize the intention (or lack thereof) of performers who push boundaries for the sake of getting a reaction. There are, and always will be, people who act with malice and degradation, but some of the loudest voices in public discourse have seemed to lose the ability to distinguish between real-world implications and those of performance. Comedy is inherently subversive and provocative, a last bastion for playfully ruffling feathers, and hopefullyAll-Star Weekendcan make its way through the treacherous waters of public discourse to come out the other side.
