Sony softened 'Concussion' storyline to avoid issues with NFL, hacked emails show
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In the wake of litigation over dementia among professional football players attributed to repeated head injuries on the field, Sony Pictures Entertainment decided to make a movie on the subject starring Will Smith.
But as the Concussion movie was filmed, hacked emails show, its focus changed. Sony executives, the director and representatives of Smith collaborated in an effort to soften the storyline and avoid blaming the game or the NFL for players’ injuries, the New York Times (reg. req.) reports.
With the help of Sony lawyers, the movie was revised in the interest of accuracy, director Peter Landesman, who also wrote the script, told the Times.
He declined to discuss the material that was cut with the newspaper, but said changes were made so that the story told by the movie would be “better and richer and fairer.”
The movie is due out in December, and a trailer was released by Sony this week.
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