Kevin James Here Comes the Boom

Here Comes the Boom

Cast: Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler
Director: Frank Coraci
Genre: Action, Comedy
Rated: MA
Running Time: 105 minutes

Synopsis: In the comedy Here Comes the Boom, former college wrestler Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a 42-year-old biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threaten to cancel the music program and lay off its teacher (Henry Winkler), Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter.

 

Everyone thinks Scott is crazy – most of all the school nurse, Bella (Salma Hayek). But in his quest, as Scott becomes more and more committed to fighting for the students, he becomes a sensation that rallies the entire school.

Release Date: December 6th, 2012

About the Production

'Here Comes the Boom is a hero story of a guy at a failing school who has lost his inspiration, and through this journey becomes inspired as a teacher," says Kevin James, who co-writes, produces, and stars in the new comedy Here Comes the Boom. 'Through him, other people become inspired, especially at the school. He's an everyman who gets the rare opportunity to step it up."

'It's a Kevin James comedy, so of course there are big laughs, and since it's set in the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), it has great action, but it's also an inspirational story with a lot of heart," adds Frank Coraci, the director of the film.

Kevin James created the character of Scott Voss, a high school biology teacher who gets into the Octagon when his school's music program is threatened. 'He's not fighting for himself – he's doing it for another teacher and the kids," says producer Todd Garner.

Scott is fighting for what many believe to be the heart and soul of the school: the music program, led by Marty Streb (played by Henry Winkler). The program becomes the latest item on the chopping block for a school facing tough economic times – and for Scott, it's a cut too far. He'll raise the money to save the program – even though the figure needed is, for a high school teacher's meager salary, astronomical. 'Somehow, Scott gets it into his mind that he's going to fight for the kids and save the music program – even though it's going to cost $48,000," says Kevin James.

But even people who are in Scott's corner think he's nuts when he reveals his plan to raise the money: he will get into the cage as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter and donate the prize money to save the program.

Why Mixed Martial Arts? 'I've always been a fan," says Kevin James. The sport, combining various fighting techniques – boxing, kickboxing, karate, jiu-jitsu, judo, myriad kinds of wrestling, Muay Thai, and more – into an exciting, wild fight, now ranks as one of the world's most popular sports. 'I became a fan back in 1993 when Bas Rutten was fighting, and I've watched every event I could since then. I've been able to meet a lot of the fighters – not only are they great people, but family people, guys you might not expect would be battling it out in a cage or in the Octagon."

'Scott is inspired by the passion that others have for music – particularly Marty and one of his students, Malia. He wants to do something because he sees how important music is to them," says executive producer Jeff Sussman. 'As Scott goes on, and the challenges get bigger and bigger, he gets more and more committed. The kids need him, and he is going to fight for them every step of the way."

As Todd Garner points out, it's a journey that reaps rewards he never expected. 'All of the aspects of Scott's quest – from competing in a sport to participating in something bigger than himself – bring his life into focus. Scott has lost his way a bit over the years and become apathetic, but competing and using the money to save the music program gives him new energy and a new drive."

'Scott Voss has a long, hard and sometimes comical journey from the classroom to the Octagon," says Frank Coraci. 'He starts his training and just gets destroyed; in his first fight he gets knocked out in two seconds flat, but that doesn't stop him. This is a story about having heart, working hard and not giving up. It's a step-by-step progression and by the end of the movie, when Scott gets to the UFC, it's both believable and inspiring that this regular guy made it there."

Just one question – could Kevin James pull off a performance as an MMA fighter? 'The reason I wanted to do the movie is that I love the sport," says Kevin James. 'I love the athletes – I think it's great that they can fight and then, when it's over, they can hug, be buddies, grab a beer. And we came up with a story that I thought went well with that, one that showed how an ordinary guy could fit into that world. All of that inspired me to get into shape so it was believable that I could actually do it. Well, maybe not perfectly believable – we always wanted the movie to be about an ordinary guy who throws himself into an extreme situation. I had to get to the point that I could fight in the Octagon, but also live a normal life and enjoy cheesecake."

'Kevin James is the perfect guy to take that on," says Todd Garner, who reunites with Kevin James for their third film together. 'Not only is he a great comedian, he is an unbelievable physical comedian. As a sport, MMA is so technical, so precise, and not about brute strength. Kevin James has trained for so long – first, for himself, because he enjoys it, and later for the movie, and he is really talented at it. He spent 14 months training, losing weight and eating right. He's always been athletic and he was a wrestler in high school, so he has that discipline. It was a tough training regimen."

Adds Frank Coraci, 'Both Kevin James and I grew up on Long Island and wrestled for our high schools. The same obsessive dedication it took in high school to cut weight and train night and day is the same dedication that Kevin James brought to his role. Thankfully, since I'm behind the camera, I got to skip the cutting weight part."

Casting the Film

Kevin James, of course, is at the center of Here Comes the Boom. 'Scott Voss is a guy who's lost his vigor for teaching a bit," he says. 'He's just going through the motions and getting through his day. And he realises, through a series of events, that he needs to do better. We're all trying to be a little better."

Things change for Scott when he is impressed by somebody who has that passion and drive. 'That's Marty Streb, the music teacher, played by Henry Winkler," he says. 'Seeing him, seeing how he is so into teaching and giving his all, acts as a catalyst."

The filmmakers surrounded Kevin James with a group of very funny actors who would also convey the heart of the story.

Salma Hayek joins the cast as Bella, the school nurse. 'Bella is the nurse at the school when they get the news that they are going to lose one of their most amazing programs – the music program," she says. 'They come together under Scott's leadership – she's going to be the nurse who patches him up after every fight."

'Kevin James's character has been asking Bella out for years, but she's completely unattainable," says Todd Garner.

'She has no interest in him whatsoever, because she thinks he's lazy and passionless," Salma Hayek explains. 'But then, he surprises her as he changes."

Todd Garner continues, 'Salma Hayek is smart and funny, and of course Kevin James knew her from working with her on Grown Ups. She adds so much flavour and energy to the movie – when she's at the fight, rooting for Kevin James's character, she's got fire."

'When Salma Hayek is on screen, there is never a dull moment. In one scene, she gives Scott some fighting pointers and it turns into one the funniest -brawls' in the film. It left the set in shambles, broken lamps and all," laughs Frank Coraci. 'She's smart, she's funny, she's strong - Bella is the perfect counterpart to challenge Kevin James's character, Scott."

Salma Hayek enjoyed her experience on the movie – not only for the chance to re-team with Kevin James, but to learn a few moves from Bas Rutten. 'I've never been much of an athlete – I'm quite coordinated and I have good genes for it, but I never exercised much in my life. Then I turned 40 and now I'll do any exercise. Bas was very complimentary. I have a deep admiration for martial arts – for the discipline of it. There's an art to it."

To play Marty Streb, the filmmakers called on an old friend. 'In the movie, Scott isn't fighting for himself – he's doing it for the kids, the school, and the music teacher," Frank Coraci explains. 'We all felt that if that was the case, we needed to cast a guy that the audience would fall in love with from the first moment. Henry Winkler is that guy. He knows so well how to play comedy – he brings so much heart to the part and every day we were blown away by his effortless grace. This is my third movie with Henry Winkler, and every time he delivers the goods."

In playing the high school music teacher, Henry Winkler got the chance to put his skills to the test. 'I actually got to conduct the orchestra of Quincy High School in Massachusetts, where we shot a large part of the film," he says. 'The kids were really committed to the scene. I love music and I got to conduct a wonderful piece written for the film, played by about 60 young people. In the scene, the kids needed to be playing brand new instruments – it's the end of the film and Scott has raised all the money that the program needs – and after filming, our producer, Todd Garner, announced that the company was donating the new instruments to the school's music. It was quite a moment."

Henry Winkler has known Kevin James socially for a few years – they first met on the set of the Adam Sandler film Click, and would see him again around town. A few years later, Kevin James and Henry Winkler shared the duties of speaking on behalf of Adam Sandler at Adam Sandler's Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony. That same afternoon, Henry Winkler says, he got a call. '-Hi, it's Kevin James. Would you like to be in my movie?' It turns out that we have a wonderful connection. Working with Kevin James is like when you water ski on a lake, it's pure glass – not a ripple on the water."

Here Comes the Boom also had two real-life MMA trainers in its corner. Kevin James's friend and longtime trainer, Bas Rutten, takes on the role of Niko, who becomes Scott's friend and the one guy who could possibly train a high school biology teacher to become a MMA fighter. The part was written for Bas Rutten. 'If you tried to write that character and cast it without knowing the actor, it'd be impossible. BasRutten is the only person who could do it," says Todd Garner. 'He's amazingly funny, he has so much charisma, and he steals the show. And, of course, he's a legendary fighter, so the scenes he's in feel completely legit."

'Niko is a complicated character," says BasRutten. 'He's a likeable guy who missed the big time because he got a little crazy – he overdid it and he got hurt. Still, he's still a guy who sees the glass as half-full instead of half-empty – he tries to put a positive spin on everything in life."

Bas Rutten has known Kevin James for a very long time. 'I first came to the States 15 years ago, and within three months his people contacted me and asked if I could train him," says Bas Rutten. 'He always loved Mixed Martial Arts and was a big fan of UFC and Pancrase, which was an organisation I used to fight for. I went to his apartment – at the time, a two-bedroom apartment he shared with his brother. Things are different now, but he's still the same guy."

Bas Rutten says that his friend Kevin James may have taken some real-life inspiration from Bas Rutten for Niko. 'Niko is a guy from Holland – like me – who used to be a fighter – like me – and is studying to become a citizen, which I did a year before we filmed the movie. It was cool to read the script and see those similarities."

Bas Rutten fought for six years, from 1993 until 2000, when injuries took their toll and he retired. Six years later, he would work through his various injuries – tendonitis, a lack of cartilage in his knees, a popped rib, a pulled groin – for a one-time comeback fight, which he won… with Kevin James in the corner. 'I was yelling instructions to him: -Leg kick! Leg kick!'" says Kevin James. 'In the middle of the fight, Bas Ruttenhad to stop and look over and put up his hand – -I got this.' I was thinking, -Oh, yeah, he knows what he's doing.' Not only that, but I'm telling his opponent exactly what I want him to do, which is probably not effective. But it was fun, and BasRutten won anyway."

In the film, Scott is also trained by Mark DellaGrotte, who plays himself. MarkDellaGrotte is a former Muay Thai kickboxer and now the owner and operator of SityodtongMuay Thai Academy, where, as an MMA trainer, he has helped guide several fighters' careers. 'They gave me the role of Mark DellaGrotte because they probably figured I couldn't mess it up," says the first-time actor. 'They wanted me to dress like myself, act like myself, and talk like myself as I coachedKevin James. They put it right into my comfort zone."

Mark DellaGrotte was hit hard by the acting bug. 'For a long time, I trained fighters, and like anything else, you lose passion, it becomes stale, and you look for something to reinvigorate yourself," he says. 'I was looking to get into something different, and this opportunity came along. It really made me confident that if I were to pursue an acting career, I could pull it off."

'We were lucky to have Bas Rutten and Mark DellaGrotte in our movie," says Frank Coraci. 'These guys have lived the MMA life and achieved greatness. They are perfect examples of what MMA is all about. And then, there's the added bonus of knowing you have some of the toughest fighters on the planet watching your back."

Joining the cast is Charice, a rising music star who plays Malia, a student at the school who would be especially hard hit by the cancellation of the music program. Charice is an online singing sensation whose videos have millions of views worldwide.
'When Charice came into the audition, we gave her a song to sing that she had never heard before," says Frank Coraci. 'First time hearing the song, Charice sings it a capella. It was flawless. Between that song and her audition, there wasn't a dry eye in the room."

Says Charice, 'I was prepared to sing a different song at the audition, but I listened to the new song, got the chorus and sang it. I remember thinking it was a bummer when I left, because I wanted the role so much. But, I guess I did OK, because they called me that afternoon and told me I got the part!"

About the Production Design

The film reteams Frank Coraci with production designer Perry Andelin Blake for their fifth collaboration. 'The movies PerryAndelin Blake and I have done in the past have called for very stylised and designed looks," says Frank Coraci. 'We were excited that this film allowed us to go for a more gritty, realistic look."

'The idea Frank Coraci had for the film was for it to seem totally real. Like it was happening as we were watching it unfold. Much more like a documentary than our previous films, with hand held camera work and real locations," says Perry AndelinBlake.

'When Scott is trying to make it as a fighter, he has to start at the lowest level of MMA," says Frank Coraci. 'We discovered that these guys will fight practically anywhere they can find an audience, so we made that part of the story. Scott fights at a county fair where the ring is falling apart; at a wedding reception hall; at an old shipyard – we mixed it up. That's part of the fun of the movie." Of course, all of those locations had to be scouted and designed, which fell to Perry AndelinBlake.

'We went to one place, called Lombardo's, where they usually have proms and wedding receptions, but sometimes they have MMA fights," Perry AndelinBlake explains. 'It was so cool to see fighters starting out at that level. The people were so excited – a fighter was there with his whole crew, and on the sidelines his family and fans wore shirts with his fight school and his name on it, and they'd go crazy when he came in. The whole place was hopping." Perry AndelinBlake sought to re-create that atmosphere in his designs.

When scouting a site for the abandoned factory that would be the location of Scott's first fight, he also happened to find the location for his second fight – the slip-and-slide fight in the rain. 'It was great – a real, working dock outside of the factory," he says. 'We just took the area, put the ring there, and added bleachers. We had an old crane and different pieces of machinery that we pulled up for people to sit on, and we put a giant tug boat in the water so that you really got the feeling that you were down by the Boston piers at night."

Of course, for the final fight, Scott is in the UFC, so Perry AndelinBlake had to make the location big. 'Obviously, we couldn't shoot at the MGM Grand Arena for two weeks, but Frank had a vision of how we could make it work," says Perry Andelin Blake.

'We had to capture the feeling of really being at a UFC event. It's like no other sports experience in the world," says Frank Coraci. 'It is extremely important to me that the audience feels the scale of the arena along with the pulsing energy and emotion as the fighters enter the ring."

'We had shots that we had to get in Vegas – people streaming in, the buildings, the big signs. But we had other shots that we shot at the Prudential Center in New Jersey – people going through the corridors and wide shots of the arena. And for the fight itself, we shot at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is a smaller, hockey arena affiliated with the college there," says Perry AndelinBlake. 'Frank Coraci had an idea to shoot a real event and then use visual effects to piece together Kevin James fighting in the ring in Lowell."

'In Kevin James's final UFC fight against Krzysztof, to capture the raw energy, I made sure while filming it that they were surrounded by a thousand live screaming MMA fans," says Frank Coraci, 'I worked closely with my visual effects supervisor, Peter Travers, to take shots from the live UFC event we shot a month earlier and mesh them with our filming of Kevin James fighting in a ring here in Boston to create the ultimate illusion of a full blown, 20,000 plus UFC experience."

There was one other key location in the film – the school that is at the heart of the movie. After all, the whole reason Scott takes on his quest is to raise money for the school. It was up to Perry AndelinBlake to create a location that needed the character's help. 'We wanted to find a high school that looked like the real thing, but also looked a little hopeless," says Frank Coraci. 'We found the former campus of Quincy High School, which had just closed, which was perfect, because we could beat it up as much as we wanted. It was fun for me to do something different – we usually build all of our sets, but in this case we could just find it and roll with it."

The old high school worked perfectly with Frank Coraci's vision for the look of the movie as well. 'In the beginning, it's winter, and the setting is pretty gritty. The photography and design reflected that by using cooler and more muted colours. But as Scott gets inspired, it becomes spring and thus the look in the movie becomes more colourful. By the end of the film, we find ourselves in the most vibrant place on Earth – Las Vegas. It's a visual journey."

While Perry AndelinBlake sought to keep much of the school as it was, there was one key location that he designed: the music room. 'It's one of the most important elements, because everything that Kevin James's character is trying to do is to save the music department," says Perry AndelinBlake. 'So we took the school's auditorium, and we built a music room within there. Frank's direction to me was that he wanted the room to feel like an old baseball mitt, and I got it right away. It's worn, but it has character to it. It's soft, it's personal. So we built a room with a lot of character to it – there was a lot of wood furniture and layers of history, like 20 generations of kids had gone through there. And the one constant in that room was Henry Winkler's character – it's his home, in a way. He's comfortable there."

At the end of the film, the music department is transformed through Scott's efforts. 'We re-did it, but we wanted to keep the warmth and idiosyncratic feel. We covered the old acoustic tiles on the walls and brought in dark red panels – we had colour and warmth without making it feel too slick. We changed out the furniture and got all new musical instruments for the kids. But we kept Henry Winkler's character's desk just as it was – for him, it's all about the kids – he didn't spend any money getting a new desk or redoing his things," says Perry AndelinBlake.

About the Training

To train for his role, Kevin James worked with a number of real MMA trainers who taught him each of the different disciplines he would need to show on screen. 'Ryan Parsons, the film's fight consultant, organised all of my training," he explains. 'We went with guys like Danny Perez, who's a professional boxer; Mel Menor, a Thai kickboxer; and Jason Lambert, who also played my double in the movie. They all worked with Garrett Warren, our stunt coordinator and second unit director, to block out all the fight scenes."

'We treated preparing for the movie as a fight camp," says Ryan Parsons. 'Kevin James sparred with world champions in boxing and kickboxing. I mean heavy sparring – he had real experience. He dove in and treated it as if he was going to have an actual fight."

Along the way, Kevin James says he picked up some of the little things that make a big difference. 'Danny Perez taught me a lot of head movement," he says. 'Mel Menor helped me with my movement. And Mark DellaGrotte got the part of my trainer in the movie after I worked mitts with him – I honestly felt that nobody could do a better job in the part and that I wanted him to hold the pads for me because I did it better with him than with anybody else."

Perhaps his proudest moment during training was when he knocked out trainer Mel Menor. 'We were working out in a hotel banquet room – we were on the road and that was the only place we could do it," Kevin James says. 'We were mixing it up and I went for a hip throw and I accidentally landed all my body weight on MelMenor. He's a little smaller than me, and he went out for a second. It was an accident, but I'll take the knockout."

About the Fights

From the very beginning, says stunt coordinator Garrett Warren, Kevin James and Frank Coraci had a vision about how they wanted the film's fight sequences to play out. 'Kevin James and Frank Coraci were very clear: they wanted fight sequences that were comical, but also realistic in nature," he says. 'Each one, they knew exactly how big or how small, or how funny or how realistic it was going to go. Kevin James had a very active role in the choreography – in many ways, he made us all look pretty good."

As for the on-camera fights, Todd Garner says, 'Kevin James was adamant that the fight scenes were going to look as real as we could possibly make them. He wanted it to feel as if the audience was inside it."

'The main part of our approach was, -What is it like to go into the ring?'" says Frank Coraci. 'Everyone's seen it on TV, where they use certain objective camera angles. I felt we had to get the audience to experience what it was like to actually step into the Octagon. Garrett Warren was as passionate about this idea as I was. We were strapping cameras to fighter's bodies to get angles literally inside the grappling. It's funny at times, but the hits are big hits. Kevin James worked extremely hard and because he did a bunch of his own fighting, it really paid off. The MMA in this movie is like no other movie anyone's ever seen before. It's really awesome and fun."

To make the fights feel real, stunt coordinator Garrett Warren called on the experts. 'One of the most important things we did was to enlist the help of real MMA fighters," he says. 'We approached it as if it were real. Looking at Kevin James's character, a former collegiate wrestler, if this were a real fight, he'd punch into the clench, take him down, and pound away the victory. That played into every fight – we were constantly asking ourselves what his character would do, what his strengths were, and going from there. It was great working with Kevin James and Frank Coraci, because for each fight, they knew exactly what they wanted – how big or small or funny they wanted it to go."

Another way the filmmakers kept it real was to ask themselves what the likely result of each fight would be. A good example is his first fight: 'We build it up to be this amazing fight, only to have Scott take a knee to the face and it's over in one move," says Garrett Warren. 'Scott drops to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The funny thing is, when we were rehearsing it, we had to come up with three or four different ways that a person can get kneed in the face and hit the ground. We came up with falling flat forward, backwards, sideways, how to shoot it from the top and from the side. After all that, I'm one of the world's biggest experts in getting kneed to the face and hitting the ground."

Kevin James's character has eight fights in the film. In each, the actor takes on a real-life MMA fighter. The filmmakers also sought to set each fight in a unique location.

Fight #1 – Abandoned Factory – MMA fighter James Robinson
Fight #2 – Boston Docks – Former MMA fighter Rafael Cordeiro

This fight takes place outdoors, in the rain. 'Todd Garner actually saw that in one fight – it starts raining and the fighters keep going," says Frank Coraci. 'It was like a Slip-and-Slide. When we saw that, we thought, that is pure comedy. We had to put that in the movie."

Fight #3 – Community College Gym – the character of 'Lucky" Patrick Murphy – played by MMA fighter Jason 'Mayhem" Miller

This is the fight in which Scott experiences his first success – even if it's mostly a fluke. 'He throws a Hail Mary – we can all relate to it," says Garrett Warren. 'You put your head down, throw the punch and pray that it hits. And in the movie, it does – Scott catches the guy on the button and he goes down. That was actually an idea that Kevin James came up with when he was writing the script –he'd seen it in an MMA fight years ago and wanted something like that to happen."

Fight #4 – High School Gym – ChaelSonnen
Fight #5 – Topsfield Fairgrounds (collapsible stage fight) – MMA fighter Satoshi Ishii
Fight #6 – Horse Arena – Brazilian JiuJitsu fighter Romulo Barral
Fight #7 – Lombardo's – UFC fighter Mark Munoz
Fight #8 – UFC Fight – the character of Ken Dietrich, played by UFC veteran Krzysztof Soszynski

In all the fights, Garrett Warren had the dual goals of making the fight look real while also making it look like a schoolteacher has found his way into a fight – but the ante was upped with the UFC fight, as these are the fighters at the top of the game. 'We took small cameras, and we'd place them on Kevin James's head, or stomach, or chest, to put the audience right in the middle of the fight," says Warren.

However, creating the fights wasn't necessarily about actually creating a real fight, but making it look real – a fight that felt real, even if it's not how real fighters do it. 'One of the most important things was not hitting a guy," he says. 'When you are in a real fight and get hit for real, you tense up your neck and lean your head into the punch. But we had to create the illusion: we had them throw their heads to the side and react to the punches, telegraphing to the audience that the character just got hurt. In between the punches, that's when we sought to have real movement, real choreography around the ring."

About MMA and The UFC

Mixed Martial Arts is one of the fastest growing sports on the planet, and if you ask Frank Coraci, there's a good reason for it. 'When you go to a fight, the whole room gets involved," he says. 'It's like a modern age Roman coliseum – you've got smoke and lights and cranking rock music. The whole experience is like no other sporting event. That is what I wanted to capture in this movie."

The largest MMA organisation in the US is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and in the movie, Kevin James' character gets a shot at a big time UFC fight. 'To be able to have the UFC involved was huge for us," Kevin James says. 'We were able to populate the film with real UFC personalities. We got -Stitch' Duran, the greatest cut man on the planet. Of course, we got Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg, the UFC fight commentators. We got Herb Dean, the greatest ref. We got Bruce Buffer, the voice of the Octagon. It really makes it feel genuine to have as many elements as we could from the real thing."

'We didn't want it just to be the signage and the Octagon," says Todd Garner. 'By having these people involved, by using real fighters, it adds weight to Scott's story – it helps make it feel like maybe, just maybe, this could happen to a high school biology teacher. We even shot at a real UFC event and used visual effects to put our Octagon into the action. When all of those elements are brought together, it creates the illusion that this is really happening and it'll give the feel of what it's really like to be in the UFC."

'It was essential that we had the UFC's participation to bring the competition to life in its full glory," says Frank Coraci. 'Whether you're a fan of MMA or not, you will be after seeing this film."