''Battle of the Year'' is a 2013 American 3D

dance film A dance film (also known as screen dance) is a film in which dance is used to reveal the central themes of the film, whether these themes be connected to narrative or story, states of being, or more experimental and formal concerns. In such films, ...

directed by Benson Lee. The film was released on September 20, 2013 through Screen Gems and stars

Josh Holloway Josh Lee Holloway (born July 20, 1969) is an American actor best known for his roles as James "Sawyer" Ford on the television show ''Lost'' and as Will Bowman on the science fiction drama ''Colony''. Most recently he had a recurring role in sea ...

, Chris Brown, Laz Alonso,

Caity Lotz Caitlin Marie Lotz (born December 30, 1986) is an American actress, dancer and singer. She has portrayed Stephanie Horton in '' Mad Men'', Officer Kirsten Landry in the MTV mockumentary series ''Death Valley'' (2011), Annie in '' The Pact'' (201 ...

, and

Josh Peck Joshua Michael Peck (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor and comedian. Peck began his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and had an early role on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''The Amanda Show'' from 2000 to 2002. Peck ...

. ''Battle of the Year'' is based upon Lee's award-winning 2007 documentary '' Planet B-Boy'', about the

b-boying Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

competition of the same name. The feature film includes cinematography by Vasco Nunes, Lee's director of photography on the original documentary.

Plot

Dante Graham enlists Jason Blake to coach the United States' b-boy team to compete in the Battle of the Year, as the US has not won in 15 years. Blake puts together a team of the best b-boys across America à la

Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...

. After overcoming their differences and learning to work as a team, the Dream Team makes it to the semi-finals, beats the reigning champion French team and finds themselves against the favorites, the Koreans. Ultimately, they lose by one point. Blake resolves to resume training as soon as possible to win next year.

Cast

as Jason Blake * Chris Brown as "Rooster" *

as Franklyn * Laz Alonso as Dante Graham *

as Stacy * Jon "Do Knock" Cruz as "Do Knock" * Ivan "Flipz" Velez as "Flipz" * Richard Carmelo Soto as "Abbstarr" *

Terrence J Terrence Jenkins (born April 21, 1982) is an American actor, television presenter, model and entertainment reporter best known as the host of BET's popular music video countdown show ''106 & Park'' from 2006 until 2012.MacCash, Doug. "Back in ...

as Himself *

Sway Calloway Sway Calloway is an American journalist, radio personality, executive producer and former rapper. Known as Sway, he is known for hosting music, news, and culture programming. He was the co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''The Wake U ...

as Himself * Anis Cheurfa as Anis *

Weronika Rosati Weronika Anna Rosati (; born 9 January 1984) is a Polish actress. She made her acting debut in 2000, and first gained recognition playing Ania in the Polish soap opera ''M jak miłość'' (2002–2005, 2018–2020). She appeared in several othe ...

as Jolene * Alex Martin as "Punk" *

Dominic Sandoval Dominic Kyle Sandoval (born October 15, 1985), better known as D-Trix, is an American dancer, YouTube personality, television personality, and actor. He is a member of Quest Crew and former member of Fallen Kingz. Sandoval was a contestant on ...

as "Grifter" * Steve Terada as "Sight" * Victor Kim as "Aces" * Jesse "Casper" Brown as "Rebel" * David "Kid David" Shreibman as "Kid" * Luis "Luigi" Rosado as "Bambino" *Sawandi Wilson as "Sniper"

Development

Film company Screen Gems first began planning for a feature film adaptation of Lee's documentary '' Planet B-Boy'' in 2009 after discovering that while interest in

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

had declined in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, it still enjoyed popularity in other countries. Chris Brown and Josh Holloway were announced as being attached to the project in October 2011. Filming began in late 2011 in Los Angeles, with more filming taking place in Montpellier, France.

Marketing

The first trailer for ''Battle of the Year'' was released in July 2013, with Adam Chitwood, Associate Editor of Collider stating that "if B-boy competitions are your thing I assume you'll have some interest in Battle of the Year." Screen Crush commented that the 3D aspect "could be a lot of fun with a film like this" but questioned whether the film would stand out against "an A-list title".

Reception

Critical response

The film was universally panned by film critics.

Box office

The film was a significant

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

grossing roughly $16 million and failed to recoup its budget of $20 million.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, planetbboy3d, Battle of the Year 2013 films 2013 3D films Screen Gems films American musical drama films 2010s musical drama films Films shot in France Films shot in Los Angeles Films scored by Christopher Lennertz Films produced by Beau Flynn Films produced by Will Packer 2013 drama films Breakdancing films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films