From Pepsi ads to a full-fledged movie starring former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Chris Webber and Nate Robinson, the first full-length trailer for Kyrie Irving’s Uncle Drew is finally here.
When Boston Celtics’ Kyrie Irving partnered with Pepsi to film a series of ads in 2012, nobody could’ve expected them to lay the groundwork for a feature-film summer comedy six years later. Even Kyrie’s hints at a possible movie in 2016 seemed like casual consideration, but the teaser trailer which dropped this February put any speculation down for good—it’s happening.
The premise revolves around a group of old-timers that band together for a tournament at Harlem’s world-famous Rucker Park—which, in real life, has fostered the talents of legends like Dr. J, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, and even Kyrie Irving himself. The film sees Get Out’s Lil’ Rel Howery desperately putting a team together to coach Uncle Drew and his teammates to victory, with Tiffany Haddish and Nick Kroll serving as comedic relief.
One of the film’s celebratory moments has Uncle Drew and co. in party-mode at a club, the on-screen energy of which turned out to be primarily inspired by real life. During a red carpet interview with Lil Rel at this year’s Oscars, the actor described how news of Kyrie Irving officially being traded to the Celtics got him hyped as hell, thereby fueling the necessary excitement for the scene being filmed.
Uncle Drew also stars Lisa Leslie, Erica Ash, and J.B. Smoove. The film was produced in association with PepsiCo’s Creators League Studios and will hit theaters on June 29, 2018. While many of us were pretty skeptical about how a movie-adaptation of the admittedly hilarious ads might turn out, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this is going to be a blast.
