The Boys in the Boat- everything to know about George Clooney’s underdog sports drama

Based on a bestselling novel by Daniel James Brown, that too on a real sports story, is what sets The Boys in the Boat apart from other Christmas releases this year. Another brownie point for the film is its focus on the sport of rowing, a previously less-explored sport in the media. Directed by George Clooney, the film will be released theatrically in the US on December 25, and in the UK on January 12, 2024, before releasing digitally on Prime Video.

The Boys in the Boat features a powerful cast, comprising Joel Edgeberton as Al Ulbrickson, Callum Turner as Joe Rantz, Hadley Robinson as Joyce Sidmar, Sam Strike as Roger Morris, Thomas Elms as Chuck Day, Joel Phillimore as Gordy Adam, Tom Varey as Johnny White, Wil Coban as Jim McMillan, Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Shorty Hunt, Jack Mulhern as Don Hume, Luke Slattery as Bobby Moch, Chris Diamantopoulos as Royal Brougham, and James Wolk as Coach Bolles.

The official synopsis reads, “The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction novel written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world.”

The trailer for the film was dropped on November 15, 2023. There is also an intriguing featurette about the making of the film, in which George Clooney talks about how the cast trained together in the off time (when they were not shooting) to become a real rowing team, and how the film was shot in chronological order to give the actors the grand, convincing push in their efforts while shooting the final race.