A few weeks after bumping up the release date for the boxing-comedy Grudge Match, audiences are treated to the first trailer for the film. Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, both of whom have played great boxers on screen, offer up a comedy about the sport that features two 1980’s boxing rivals reunited for one final grudge match decades after their last fight.
Henry “Razor” Sharp (Stallone) and Billy “The Kid” McDonnen had a fierce rivalry as boxers, each winning one fight before Razor announced his retirement from the sport just before the deciding match. 30 years later, after the retired fighters have an altercation while filming motion capture scenes for a video game, boxing promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Kevin Hart) decides to put together one last fight.
Grudge Match is directed by Peter Segal (The Longest Yard) and features Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential), Alan Arkin (Argo) and Jon Bernthal (Date Night) in supporting roles.
Both De Niro and Stallone have recieved Oscar nominations for their respective boxing films (De Niro won Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, while Stallone was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Rocky), and although Grudge Match will probably not receive much attention come awards season it is sure to inspire laughs aplenty when it hits theaters on Christmas day.