The Replacements

Behind the Scenes

Poster

Links go to photos of the stars. Or, if you prefer, view the Gallery page for even more photos from the film.

Success is often a matter of blind luck, and some deserving people, talented in their own right, never get a crack at it. Such has been the fate of Shane "Footsteps" Falco (KEANU REEVES), once a hot All American prospect on the football field. Shane can only regret what's behind him, and can't even begin to imagine what's ahead.

But Fate is not through with Shane. When League players decide to strike, leaving the prospect of empty fields (and equally empty stadiums) for team owners to contemplate, the Washington Sentinels scramble for a solution. When they bring contentious and self-retired head coach Jimmy McGinty (GENE HACKMAN) back into the fold, McGinty seeks out players who will play with their hearts rather than their wallets.

For the League, the situation is a disaster, but for Shane and a mismatched crew of outsiders, it's a second chance to grab at sports stardom. As they amaze everyone with their winning streak, the ragtag group discovers in itself the ability to hope for more than they ever thought possible...maybe even the playoffs, which has been denied to the Sentinels for seven years.

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Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Bel-Air Entertainment, "The Replacements," a rousing comedy starring two of America's most acclaimed and popular stars, Keanu Reeves (the worldwide Warner Bros. Pictures smash hits "The Matrix" and "The Devil's Advocate," "Speed") and two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman (Best Supporting Actor for "Unforgiven" and Best Actor for "The French Connection"). ORLANDO JONES ("Liberty Heights," "Mad TV") also stars as Clifford Franklin, a 100-meter qualifier in the Olympics, with an unfortunate lifelong case of butterfingers, who joins Shane on the team; BROOKE LANGTON ("Melrose Place") as Annabelle Farrell, the Sentinels' football-crazy head cheerleader whose passion for the game goes up a notch or two in the presence of Shane Falco; JON FAVREAU ("Swingers," TV's "Marciano") as Daniel Bateman, a Navy SEAL-turned-L.A. cop, who makes up for a lost kidney with an overload of grit; RHYS IFANS ("Notting Hill") as Nigel "The Leg" Gruff, a wiry Welsh soccer star kicker from Cardiff; BRETT CULLEN ("Apollo 13," "Courage Under Fire") as spoiled-rotten Sentinels regular quarterback Eddie Martel; and JACK WARDEN (whose remarkable career spans from "From Here to Eternity" to "Bulworth") as millionaire Sentinels owner Edward O'Neil.

Rounding out the Sentinals team are MICHAEL JACE (title role of television's "Michael Jordan: An American Hero") as Earl Wilkinson, who might be a big star in the League if he wasn't already a guest of the State of Maryland...in their state penitentiary; TROY WINBUSH ("The Port Chicago Mutiny") as born-again Walter Cochran, who ascribes all things to the Lord both on the field and off; and MICHAEL "BEAR" TALIFERRO ("Armageddon") and FAIZON LOVE ("Friday") as massively constructed brothers and music industry bodyguards Andre and Jamal Jackson; DAVID DENMAN (TV's "The 60s") as Brian Murphy, who is young, handsome, talented -- and deaf; and ACE YONAMINE as huge Japanese sumo wrestler Jumbo Fumiko.

Other cast members of "The Replacements" include motion picture veteran GAILARD SARTAIN ("Fried Green Tomatoes," "Mississippi Burning"), ART LaFLEUR ("Escape From Alcatraz," "Field of Dreams"), and legendary football commentators JOHN MADDEN and PAT SUMMERALL as themselves, calling the games depicted in the film.

"The Replacements" is directed by HOWARD DEUTCH ("Pretty in Pink," "Grumpier Old Men") and written by VINCE McKEWIN (“Fly Away Home”) and produced by DYLAN SELLERS ("Out to Sea," "Passenger 57"). The executive producers are STEVEN REUTHER ("Face/Off," "The Client"), JEFFREY CHERNOV ("10 Things I Hate About You") and ERWIN STOFF ("The Matrix").

The filmmakers have assembled a top team of behind-the-scenes artists for "The Replacements," including distinguished director of photography TAK FUJIMOTO ("The Sixth Sense," "Philadelphia"), production designer DAN BISHOP ("Lone Star," "The Odd Couple II") and film editors BUD SMITH (Academy Award nominee for "The Exorcist" and "Flashdance") and SETH FLAUM ("The Odd Couple II," "Grumpier Old Men"). RANDY EDELMAN (“The Whole Nine Yards”) composed the score. The second unit director/football coordinator/stunt coordinator is ALLAN GRAF, who functioned in the same capacities on "The Program," "Jerry Maguire," "The Waterboy" and Oliver Stone's "Any Given Sunday."

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