Over the summer months, HBO rolled out its gleefully dark comedy series Vice Principals, pitting Danny McBride and Jody Hill against one another in a bid for supremacy. It fared relatively well with critics, even nabbing a second season renewal at the network. But now, it’s Ice Cube and Charlie Day’s turn to go a few rounds for Fist Fight, an upcoming high school comedy that hails from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia director Richie Keen.
Keen, who has arguably extracted the very best from Charlie Day across his beloved sitcom, spoke to USA Today regarding his move over to the big screen, and how Fist Fight can be viewed as a more adult-oriented spin on ’80s cult hit Three O’Clock High. There’s more to this drama than a wildly over-the-top scuffle, though, with Keen revealing that, “the truth of the matter is at this public high school on a very chaotic day, neither of their philosophies are working. And this fight becomes a bigger metaphor for the system and things needing to change.”
That’s something we get to see in motion via today’s bonkers reveal trailer, one which finds Ice Cube and Charlie Day at loggerheads.
On the last day of the year, mild-mannered high school English teacher Andy Campbell (Day) is trying his best to keep it together amidst senior pranks, a dysfunctional administration and budget cuts that put jobs on the line. But things go from bad to worse when he accidentally crosses his much tougher and deeply feared colleague, Ron Strickland (Ice Cube), who challenges Campbell to an old-fashioned throw down after school. News of the fight spreads like wildfire and ends up becoming the very thing this school, and Campbell, needed.
With Day and Cube assuming lead roles, Fist Fight also stars Jillian Bell, Bad Santa 2′s Christina Hendricks, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Dean Norris, Kumail Nanjiani, Dennis Haysbert and Tracy Morgan in what will be his first major movie role since the near-fatal car crash in 2014.
Fist Fight steps into the ring – and into theaters – on February 17, 2017.