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''Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (stylized as ''DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story'') is a 2004
sports comedy film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. De ...
written and directed by
Rawson Marshall Thurber Rawson Marshall Thurber (born February 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the 2004 comedy film ''Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story''. Early life Thurber was born in San Francisco, California ...
and starring
Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...
,
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...
,
Christine Taylor Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She has played Marcia Brady in '' The Brady Bunch Movie'' and '' A Very Brady Sequel'' and appeared in '' The Craft'', '' The Wedding Singer'', '' Zoolander'', and '' Do ...
, and
Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' (1983). Tor ...
. The film follows a group of unlikely misfits who enter a Las Vegas
dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sports, team sport in which players on two opposing teams try to throw balls and hit opponents while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them w ...
tournament, needing the prize money to save their cherished gym from being taken over by a corporate health fitness chain. Theatrically released by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
on June 18, 2004, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $168.4 million on a $20 million budget. , a sequel is in development.


Plot

Peter LaFleur is the owner of Average Joe's, a small, dilapidated and understaffed gym. When he defaults on the gym's
mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
, his cocky and vindictive business rival White Goodman, who owns Globo Gym across the street, purchases it. Unless Peter can raise $50,000 in 30 days, Goodman will
foreclose Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mort ...
on and demolish Average Joe's to build a new auxiliary parking structure for his members. Goodman attempts to seduce attorney Kate Veatch, who is handling his account; repulsed, she cites
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
(COI) to rebuff his disturbing advances. Peter, gym employees Dwight Baumgarten and Owen Dittman, and members Steve "The Pirate" Cowan, Justin Redman and Gordon Pibb, all decide to raise the required money. After an impromptu car wash suggested by Owen fails, Gordon suggests entering a dodgeball tournament in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
with a $50,000 grand prize. Justin obtains a 1950s-era training film for the group featuring Irish-American dodgeball legend Patches O'Houlihan. A
Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...
Troop easily defeats them at the sub-regional qualifiers the following day, but are disqualified due to one member failing a drug test, resulting in Average Joe's winning by default. Having spied on Average Joe's using a hidden camera in a cutout of himself, Goodman forms his own dodgeball team, the Globo Gym Purple Cobras, and surprises Gordon by revealing he bypassed the mandatory qualification match due to his camaraderie with the chancellor. After watching their confrontation, Patches, now an elderly, wheelchair user, approaches Peter, volunteering to coach the team. Patches' unusual training regimen involves having them dodge wrenches, oncoming cars, and his constant insults. Despite her skills at the sport, Kate declines to join the team, again citing COI. Goodman arrives at Kate's house uninvited and reveals that he misled her boss about her stealing and drinking on the job, thus getting her fired from her law firm and freeing him to date her. Enraged, she rejects Goodman and joins the Average Joe's team. Despite early setbacks, the team advances to the final round against Globo Gym. The night before the match, a falling sign in the casino kills Patches. Returning to his room, Peter encounters an uninvited Goodman, who greedily offers him $100,000 for the deed to Average Joe's, claiming that Peter will inevitably cause its closure. Demoralized and anxious that the team will lose without Patches's motivation, Peter chastises Steve's pirate behavior upon returning to the group, causing Steve's departure. On the day of the final, Justin assists his classmate and love interest Amber in a cheerleading competition after his rival Derek becomes severely injured, leaving Average Joe's short of players. A brief encounter with
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...
restores Peter's morale, but he and Justin return too late; Average Joe's has already forfeited. After Gordon discovers that a majority of the judges can overturn the forfeiture, a tie-breaking vote from
Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...
reinstates the team. After an intense game, Peter and Goodman engage in a sudden-death match. Inspired by Patches' spirit, Peter blindfolds himself, evades Goodman's throw, and strikes him in the face, winning the championship and the prize money. Goodman deflatingly reveals that Peter sold the gym to him the previous night, but Peter explains he used Goodman's $100,000 to bet on Average Joe's victory; with the odds against them at 50 to 1, he collects $5 million. Peter then announces his intention to invest in the controlling stake of the publicly traded Globo Gym, allowing him to own it and its subsidiaries, which now include Average Joe's, and fire Goodman. Steve returns, appearing more normal, but revives his pirate persona when Peter reveals their winnings as "buried treasure". Joyce, a friend of Kate's who flew from Guam to witness the final match, arrives and kisses her passionately, shocking Peter; Kate then reveals her
bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...
and kisses Peter similarly. During the credits, Peter advertises youth dodgeball classes at a newly renovated and popular Average Joe's. Meanwhile, Goodman, returned to morbid obesity, is seen watching the commercial on television, blaming Norris for his plight.


Cast

*
Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...
as Peter LaFleur, the very laid-back and casual owner of Average Joe's Gym whose lack of attention leads to its foreclosure. *
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...
as White Goodman, the arrogant owner of Globo Gym who is trying to buy out Average Joe's so that he can demolish it and build a parking lot and aggressively pursues a relationship with Kate despite her constant rejections. He used to be morbidly obese back in the 1980s. *
Christine Taylor Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She has played Marcia Brady in '' The Brady Bunch Movie'' and '' A Very Brady Sequel'' and appeared in '' The Craft'', '' The Wedding Singer'', '' Zoolander'', and '' Do ...
as Kate Veatch, a very athletic real estate and tax lawyer who is assigned by the bank to sort out the finances at Average Joe's Gym and ends up joining the Average Joe's dodgeball team after losing her job thanks to Goodman. *
Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American actor. He began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. His breakout role was playing Jack 'Nighthawk' Killian in the NBC series '' M ...
as Cotton McKnight, one of the TV announcers for the dodgeball tournament *
Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' (1983). Tor ...
as Patches O'Houlihan, a retired seven-time ADAA dodgeball All-Star, now confined to a wheelchair, who coaches the Average Joe's team. **
Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor and producer. He is known for voicing many characters in the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmer ...
as young Patches *
Missi Pyle Missi Pyle (born November 16, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in films including ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), ''Josie and the Pussycats (film), Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Bringing Down the House (film), ''Bringing ...
as Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivichski, a professional dodgeball player from Romanovia, playing for the Globo Gym team, and Owen's newfound crush *
Alan Tudyk Alan Wray Tudyk ( ; born March 16, 1971) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in '' 28 Days'' (2000), '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001), '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004), voice and motion capture for Sonny in '' I, Robot'' (2 ...
as Steve "The Pirate" Cowan, a regular customer at Average Joe's who dresses, talks, and acts like a
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
*
Justin Long Justin Jacob Long (born June 2, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his film roles, particularly in comedy and horror films, notably appearing in ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), ''Jeepers Creepers (2001 film), Jeepers Creepers'' ( ...
as Justin Redman, a high school student and regular customer at Average Joe's *
Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the a ...
as Gordon Pibb, a regular customer at Average Joe's * Chris Williams as Dwight Baumgarten, an employee at Average Joe's *
Joel David Moore Joel David Moore (born September 25, 1977) is an American character actor and director. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Moore studied acting in college before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. His first major role was as Owen ...
as Owen Dittman, an employee at Average Joe's *
Julie Gonzalo Julieta Susana Gonzalo (; born September 9, 1981) is an American and Argentine actress. On television, she has played Parker Lee on ''Veronica Mars'' (2006–2007; 2019), Maggie Dekker on ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), Pamela Rebecca Barnes on the ...
as Amber, a cheerleader at Justin's high school on whom he has a
crush Crush may refer to: * Infatuation or limerence, the romantic attraction to another person * Puppy love, feelings of love, romance, or infatuation felt by young people Crush may also refer to: Film * Crush (1972 film), ''Crush'' (1972 film), a H ...
, and becomes his wife *
Jamal Duff Jamal E. Duff (born March 11, 1972) is an American actor and former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). Early life Duff was born in Columbus, Ohio, but as a child, moved west with his family to Tustin, Californ ...
as Me'Shell Jones, White Goodman's "Fitness
Consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
" who carries out Goodman's orders *
Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...
as Pepper Brooks, the
color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
for the dodgeball tournament TV broadcast * Al Kaplon as The Referee *
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
as The Dodgeball Chancellor who oversees the dodgeball tournaments * Trever O'Brien as Derek, another cheerleader at Justin's high school and Amber's ex-boyfriend *
Rusty Joiner Jason Russell "Rusty" Joiner (born December 11, 1972) is an American male fashion model, Fitness model (person), fitness model and actor. Early life and education Born in Montgomery, Alabama, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Joiner attended Ge ...
as Blade, a member of the Globo Gym dodgeball team * Kevin Porter as Lazer, a member of the Globo Gym dodgeball team * Brandon Molale as Blazer, a member of the Globo Gym dodgeball team *
Curtis Armstrong Curtis Johnathan Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Booger in the '' Revenge of the Nerds'' films, Herbert Viola on the TV series '' Moonlighting'', Miles Dalby in the film '' Risky ...
as Mr. Ralph, a man who hosts the sub-regional qualifiers event *
Scarlett Chorvat Scarlett Chorvat (born August 25, 1972 in Bratislava, Slovakia) is a Slovak American actress. She moved to the U.S. at the age of five. Chorvat started playing tennis semi-professionally at the age of 15, but moved on to become a model (person) ...
as Joyce, Kate's girlfriend * Lori Beth Denberg as Martha Johnstone, an overweight cheerleader at Justin's high school *
Cayden Boyd Cayden Michael Boyd (born May 24, 1994) is an American actor. He is best known for his child roles as Max in Robert Rodriguez's 2005 film '' The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl'' and Ben Reynolds in the 2007 film ''Have Dreams, Will Travel''. ...
as Timmy, a boy in the dodgeball instructional video *
Suzy Nakamura Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and Improvisational theatre, improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''According to Jim'', ''Half & Half (TV series), Half and Half'', ''8 Simpl ...
as Gordon's wife *
Bob Cicherillo Robert Michael Cicherillo (born December 1, 1965) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder. Biography Cicherillo's first bodybuilding competition was the 1981 Natural America, where he placed 4th in the teen tall class. His first NPC (Nat ...
as Rory (uncredited) *
Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His acting roles include Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–2023) as adult ...
as the following uncredited roles: ** A video store clerk ** The narrator of a video that Goodman watches while fondling a piece of pizza ;Cameo appearances *
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...
as himself, he gives Pete a pep talk enough for him to continue in the tournament *
David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on the soap ...
as himself, he was depicted as the coach of the Blitzkrieg *
Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...
as himself, he is also depicted as a member of the dodgeball judiciary board


Production

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...
's character, White Goodman, was an intentional copy-and-paste of his character Tony Perkis Jr. from the film ''
Heavyweights ''Heavyweights'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill and written by Brill with Judd Apatow. It stars Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Shaun Weiss, Tom Hodges, Leah Lail, Paul Feig, Kenan Thompson, David Bowe, Max Goldbl ...
''. Stiller opted to simply redo his performance believing that no one had seen that film, but learned too late that the movie had a large cult following. He added that Perkis was "definitely a first or second cousin to oodman and had no regrets over doing an alternate portrayal of him. When the film was screened to test audiences, the original ending had Average Joe's lose to Globo Gym in the final match. After the ending was viewed negatively by the test audiences, the sudden death match and Average Joe's winning the dodgeball tournament were added alongside White going back to obesity.


Copyright lawsuit

In 2005, two New York City screenwriters, David Price and Ashoka Thomas, filed suit in federal court against Fox and Thurber, claiming the
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
of an unproduced screenplay they had written, ''Dodgeball: The Movie'', was infringed upon by Thurber and Fox. They alleged there were a number of similarities in the plots of the two screenplays, and that Thurber may have had access to their screenplay, which was finished a month before his and submitted to an agent whose assistant he was acquainted with. Lawyers for the defendants dismissed some of the allegations as coincidental. They said that both screenplays were the work of writers who used common formulaic elements. Judge
Shira Scheindlin Shira Ann Scheindlin (; née Joffe; born August 16, 1946) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She ...
denied the defense motion for
summary judgment In law, a summary judgment, also referred to as judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition, is a Judgment (law), judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full Trial (law), trial. Summa ...
and ordered a jury trial.
Price v. Fox Entertainment Group
'', 499 F. Supp. 2d 382, (
S.D.N.Y. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Cit ...
, 2007).
The suit was later settled out of court.


Reception


Box office

In its first week, the film grossed over $29 million, and would go on to a domestic gross of $114.3 million, and a worldwide total of $168.4 million.


Critical response

Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
'' dismissed the film as "a less-than-one-joke film", while ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' remarked that
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...
"doesn't know when to stop". Other critics, such as ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'', praised Stiller's satirical take on male virility and praised the chemistry between
Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...
and
Christine Taylor Christine Joan Taylor Stiller (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She has played Marcia Brady in '' The Brady Bunch Movie'' and '' A Very Brady Sequel'' and appeared in '' The Craft'', '' The Wedding Singer'', '' Zoolander'', and '' Do ...
. Joe Morgenstern of ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' initially declined to review the film, believing it was not worthy of his time. However, after reviewing the DVD, he changed his view, writing, "
Mea culpa ''Mea culpa'' () is a phrase of Latin origin that means ''my fault'' or ''my mistake'', and is an acknowledgment of having done wrong. The expression is also used as an admission of having made a mistake that should have been avoided and, in a ...
, mea culpa. Rawson Marshall Thurber's debut feature, starring
Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...
opposite
Vince Vaughn Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...
, is erratic, imbecilic if not completely idiotic, inconsequential in even the small scheme of things, and thoroughly entertaining".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film a three stars out of four rating in his ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' review and writes "in a miraculous gift to the audience, 20th Century-Fox does ''not'' reveal all of the best gags in its trailer."


Awards

* 2004 ESPY Awards ** Best Sports Movie – Nominated * 2005 BMI Awards ** Best Film Music, Theodore Shapiro – Won *
2005 MTV Movie Awards The 2005 MTV Movie Awards was hosted by Jimmy Fallon. A special award, the Silver Bucket of Excellence, was presented to the 1985 film ''The Breakfast Club''. Also, Tom Cruise was presented with the first-ever MTV Generation Award. Neither of the ...
** Best Comedic Performance, Ben Stiller – Nominated ** Best On-Screen Team (Vince Vaughn, Christine Taylor, Justin Long, Alan Tudyk, Stephen Root, Joel Moore and Chris Williams) – Nominated ** Best Villain, Ben Stiller – Won *
25th Golden Raspberry Awards The 25th Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, were held on February 26, 2005, at the Ivar Theatre in Hollywood, California, to honor the worst films the film industry had to offer in 2004. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Golden Raspberr ...
** Worst Actor, Ben Stiller (Also for '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'', ''
Along Came Polly ''Along Came Polly'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg and starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston, alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin. The sto ...
'', ''
Envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Envy can also refer to the wish for another person to lack something one already ...
'', and ''
Starsky & Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...
''
ll 2004 LL may refer to: * Ll or ll, a digraph that occurs in several natural languages Arts and entertainment *LL, the production code for the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Evil of the Daleks'' * '' Labyrinth Lord'', a fantasy role-playing game * ' ...
– Nominated


Legacy


Sequel

On April 22, 2013, it was announced that
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
had started developing a sequel to the film, with
Clay Tarver Clay Tarver (born November 8, 1965, in San Antonio, Texas) is an American guitarist and writer. He was the co-showrunner and an executive producer of ''Silicon Valley (TV series), Silicon Valley''. Biography Music career Tarver—who graduated f ...
writing the script and Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn returning to star. However, Ben Stiller later stated that he was not aware a ''Dodgeball'' sequel was happening. A reunion video featuring the cast entitled ''Play Dodgeball with Ben Stiller'' was released online in June 2017, announcing a competition to raise funds for the Stiller Foundation. On April 27, 2023, it was announced that 20th Century Studios had re-begun production on a sequel, with actor Vince Vaughn set to return, and possibly serve as a producer on the new film.


ESPN8: The Ocho

On August 8, 2017, ESPN paid homage to its lampooned portrayal in ''Dodgeball'' by airing a day-long "ESPN8: The Ocho" marathon on its college sports channel
ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remain ...
. In the spirit of the programming depicted in the film, it consisted of lesser-known and unconventional sports and competitions—including trampoline dodgeball,
darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...
, disc golf,
kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...
, and
roller derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...
. The stunt was reprised the following two years on
ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...
, and also included airings of ''Dodgeball''. Due to a lack of live sports programming during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
,
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
announced on March 22, 2020, that it would reprise the stunt earlier than scheduled on ESPN2. It did it on May 2, 2020, on ESPN, and then August 8, 2020, on ESPN2 as well as the Big Screen in ''
Fortnite Party Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a 2017 Battle royale game, battle royale video game produced by Epic Games. It was originally developed as a companion game part of the early access version of ''Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival ...
''. A collection of sports that were featured on ESPN8, as well as the ESPN8 broadcast on these said networks, were available on the ESPN app. The program was held again on ESPN2 on August 3, 2023. The channel also received a cameo in the 2024
Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
mini-series '' Knuckles''. By 2023, ESPN8 had become a permanent channel, airing as a FAST channel on multiple streaming platforms including
The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...
and
DirecTV Stream DirecTV Stream (formerly DirecTV Now and AT&T TV) is a premium streaming television, streaming Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel television service offered in the United States by DirecTV. The brand offers pay television ...
.https://www.directv.com/insider/espn-8-the-ocho/#:~:text=You%20can%20watch%20ESPN8%3A%20The%20Ocho%2024%2F7%20for,free%20on%20DIRECTV%20Channel%204108.


See also

*
ESPN8 The Ocho ESPN8 The Ocho is a special program block showcasing seldom-seen obscure sports that airs on the networks of ESPN Inc. The Ocho is also offered as a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel on the Roku Channel and DirecTV Stream. ...
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List of American films of 2004 This is a list of American films released in 2004. Box office The highest-grossing American films released in 2004, by domestic box office gross revenue, are as follows: January–March April–June July–September October� ...


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodgeball A True Underdog Story 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s sports comedy films 2004 directorial debut films 2004 films 2004 LGBTQ-related films 20th Century Fox films American LGBTQ-related films American sports comedy films Bisexuality-related films Dodgeball mass media English-language sports comedy films Films about ball games Films directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber Films produced by Ben Stiller Films scored by Theodore Shapiro Films set in the Las Vegas Valley Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley LGBTQ-related sports comedy films Physical fitness in popular culture Red Hour Productions films