Kevin James to play former Penn State wrestler in MMA movie comedy
March 9th, 2011 3:31 pm ET .Do you like this Article?
Picture this: Kevin James wearing an early 1990s Penn State singlet.
Yes, that Kevin James, star of comedy movies such as Paul Blart, Mall Cop and the former CBS sitcom The King of Queens.
According to a message posted at the Facebook page of Worldwide Sport Supply-Wrestling Wednesday afternoon, "We just received a call from Columbia Pictures. They are buying an early 1990s Penn State replica singlet for an Adam Sandler-produced movie called Here Comes the BOOM starring Kevin James. Pretty cool."
A later post said, "I guess James is a former PSU wrestler that turns to MMA to help pay bills 20 yrs later!"
Worldwide Sport Supply-Wrestling also disclosed that two singlets were shipped -- "XL and XXL for sizing."
Assuming that James will put on the old-school Nittany Lion uniform, it apparently won't be the first time he's worn a singlet. According to his Wikipedia biography, James wrestled at Ward Melville High School in Stony Brook, N.Y. before graduating in 1983.
In its story about the new Kevin James movie, the sports-and-entertainment website TerezOwens.com reported , "... Now comes word the portly funnyman will be starring in a movie where he moonlights as a UFC fighter. "Kevin's been into the UFC for years," said the source. 'He's very close with Dana White [UFC president] and Joe Rogan [UFC announcer] and he's wanted to do this movie for years.' Of course, some of the movie will film in Vegas including the fight scenes... My source tells me James will be preparing for the movie by training with MMA legend Randy Couture... It's going to be interesting to see Kevin in the Octagon... not sure if I believe James as a fighter... but that's Hollywood for you."
According to a February article in the Boston Globe, some of the movie -- being directed by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane -- will be filmed at the soon-to-be-demolished Quincy High School. Filming is expected to be finished by June.
The City of Quincy, Mass. website is reporting, "Mayor Thomas Koch has inked a deal with Columbia Pictures that will see movie scenes for an upcoming Kevin James comedy shot inside the former Quincy High School in exchange for at least $80,000 that the Mayor plans to dedicate to the Quincy Public Schools music program."
The city website goes on to state that "James will play a teacher who joins the UFC fighting circuit in the hopes of raising money to save his school's music program."
"We've heard the plot involves a teacher raising money to protect school music programs, so we've decided to allocate the money to our own music program in the spirit of the film," said Mayor Koch.
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