In 2018, it’s not all that absurd to see a commercial get turned into a movie. This summer, Kyrie Irving will go from the world of advertising to the silver screen, as he’ll take his Uncle Drew persona to Hollywood.
Earlier this month, Temple Hill Productions announced that they’d acquired the rights to the Uncle Drew movie from Pepsi in order to to produce a full-length feature film. The film is described as “a love letter to basketball,” seen through the eyes of Irving’s Uncle Drew character.
On Wednesday, Temple Hill and Lionsgate studios released the first salvo in what will be a war on the summer films. The Uncle Drew teaser trailer that we never thought we needed has finally hit the internet, and it’s as glorious as we hoped.
The trailer kicks off with old footage of Rucker Park and New York City basketball legends like Chris Mullin and Pee Wee Kirkland talking about the legend of Uncle Drew. The premise of the film is Uncle Drew’s nephew (played by Lil’ Rel Howery) convinces the elderly baller to come back out of retirement in Blues Brothers-esque fashion, bringing the band back together to mix old and new-school basketball.
The trailer also flaunts dominant NBA big men Chris Webber and Shaquille O’Neal as members of Drew’s crew who used to dominate the parks back in the day.
Uncle Drew is set to hit theaters on June 29 and will feature some other hoops legends, like Reggie Miller and Lisa Leslie. If the trailer is any indication, this film might be the modern basketball cult classic we’ve all been hoping for.
