AwardsWatch - Will Smith Looks for Oscar Nod #3 in ‘Concussion’ trailer from Sony Pictures

Will Smith Looks for Oscar Nod #3 in ‘Concussion’ trailer from Sony Pictures

Don't call it a comeback: Will Smith fights the NFL and for credibility in 'Concussion' — **Don’t call it a comeback: Will Smith fights the NFL and for credibility in ‘Concussion’**

After a string of critical and financial bombs (including the notorious disaster After Earth, which co-starred his son Jaden), Will Smith is looking for a comeback with the very baity Oscar vehicle Concussion, whose trailer debuted today from Sony Pictures.

[box type=”shadow” align=”aligncenter” class=”” width=””]Will Smith stars in Concussion, a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu’s emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful – and beloved – institutions in the world.[/box]

Part drama, part thriller, the film could play well with Smith fans as well as the Academy, who’ve awarded the actor with two Oscar nominations already (2001’s Ali and 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness) which, incidentally, were also biopics released on or near Christmas.

The film, which is based in part on the GQ article “Game Brain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, also stars Academy Award nominees Alec Baldwin (The Cooler), Albert Brooks (Broadcast News) and Gugu-Mbatha Raw (Beyond the Lights) and is directed by Peter Landesman (Kill the Messenger).

Concussion hits theaters Christmas Day.

The trailer:

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.