The Great White Hype
The Great White Hype is a 1996 American sports comedy film directed by Reginald Hudlin. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Lovitz, Cheech Marin, John Rhys-Davies, Salli Richardson and Jamie Foxx.
Plot
James "The Grim Reaper" Roper (Damon Wayans), the undefeated heavyweight boxing champ of the world, defeats his latest challenger with ease and visits an after-party thrown by Rev. Fred Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson), a conniving and manipulative businessman who also acts as Roper's fight promoter. After telling the attendees that the fight was a financial flop, Sultan concludes that boxing events have become far less profitable because audience members are tired of watching only black boxers fight each other. Sultan predicts that a white contender, even one without a viable chance of winning, would create a huge payday like the Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney fight; next, he vows to either find or "create" a white contender for Roper to face in the ring.
More details
| author | Ron Shelton |
|---|---|
| director | Reginald Hudlin |
| editor | Earl Watson |
| events | boxing |
| genre | comedy |
| keywords | begin box boxing champ buddhism cleveland grim reaper heavy metal heavy metal music ice cream truck irish irish people larry holmes vs. gerry cooney las vegas manipulative metal band pay-per-view promoter psychological manipulation silence social issues television journalist undisputed champion white box win |
| musicBy | Marcus Miller |
| producer | Fred Berner Joshua Donen |
| productionCompany | Altman Entertainment Fred Berner Films |
| publisher | 20th Century Fox |
| theme | satirical sports comedy |