Comic-Con Response to Balls of Fury Spurs Release Date Move
LOS ANGELES, August 6, 2007 – On the heels of a rousing response to both a preview screening and an in-person filmmakers’ presentation at last month’s Comic-Con International fan convention in San Diego, Rogue Pictures is advancing the release date for its outrageous new comedy Balls of Fury. Jack Foley, president of theatrical distribution for Rogue and sibling company Focus Features, made the announcement today.
Previously set for a Friday, August 31st bow, the movie will now open nationwide two days earlier, on Wednesday, August 29th. The move to earlier in the week makes Balls of Fury the latest summer movie to maximize its commercial potential, following similar shifts that other titles have made.
Balls of Fury writer/director Robert Ben Garant and writer/costar Thomas Lennon (whose previous credits together include Night at the Museum and Reno 911!) touted the movie during Comic-Con, with Rogue’s marketing, publicity, and promotions teams blanketing the convention with tie-ins ranging from men’s briefs to state-of-the-art Ping-Pong paddles. The finished film was screened in its entirety for the Comic-Con audience.
Mr. Foley commented, “When we saw how well the movie played at Comic-Con – and heard so much continuing positive buzz in the days afterwards –we realized that there’s even more potential audience for our PG-13-rated movie if we open a couple of days earlier. As the only nationwide release scheduled for midweek, we will have the equivalent of two days of sneak previews and word-of-mouth as we head into the lucrative Labor Day holiday weekend play period.”
Balls of Fury serves up the unsanctioned, underground, and unhinged world of extreme Ping-Pong for the first time on-screen. Down-and-out former professional Ping-Pong phenom Randy Daytona (Tony Award winner Dan Fogler) is sucked into this maelstrom when FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) recruits him for a secret mission. Randy is determined to bounce back and recapture his former glory, and to smoke out his father’s (Robert Patrick) killer – one of the FBI’s Most Wanted, arch-fiend Feng (Academy Award winner Christopher Walken).
But, after two decades out of the game, Randy can’t turn his life around and avenge his father’s murder without a team of his own. He calls upon the spiritual guidance of blind Ping-Pong sage and restaurateur Wong (James Hong), and the training expertise of Master Wong’s wildly sexy niece Maggie (Maggie Q), both of whom also have a dark history with Feng. All roads lead to Feng’s mysterious jungle compound and the most unique Ping-Pong tournaments ever staged. There, Randy faces such formidable players as his long-ago Olympics opponent, the still-vicious Karl Wolfschtagg (Mr. Lennon). Can Randy keep his eye on the balls? Will he achieve the redemption he craves while wielding a paddle? Is his backhand strong enough to triumph over rampant wickedness?
