Month: April 2018

“The story of a dude who just wouldn’t give up.”

We learned a while back that several FGC competitors and personalities were joining Canadian MMA fighter Elias Theodorou in the production of an FGC-themed comedy called Last Hit. Aside from learning that fighting game competitors Justin Wong, Kayane, and Luffy, as well as commentator Zhi Lang Chew, were joining Theodorou in the movie — and its general premise — not much was made initially known about the project.

Rather than already being in production, it seems the Canadian-based film is actually taking the crowdfunding route. From the press release:

Nero Films Inc. is proud to announce the Indiegogo fundraising campaign for Last Hit, a new fighting games comedy starring Canadian UFC fighter Elias ‘The Spartan’ Theodorou and featuring fighting game community legends Kayane, Justin Wong and Olivier ‘Louffy’ Hay. The film is scheduled for release in 2019.

Directed by Gary Hawes (assistant director, Interstellar, Juno) and written by Kyle Francis (Shadowrun Returns, The Swift Life), Last Hit follows Denis Bergeron (Theodorou), a charismatic MMA fighter who lives for his sport. But when Bergeron sustains a humiliating career-ending injury, he turns to videogames as a distraction — and stumbles into the world of competitive fighting games, where he encounters toxic gamer bro and Street Fighter V champion Chris Ballard. With the help of his sharp-tongued physiotherapist Suzie and lovable trainer Davey, Bergeron vows to defeat Ballard once and for all at one of the largest fighting game tournaments in the world, the Canada Cup, and prove that his warrior spirit can’t be broken.

Highlights
• Is the first comedy feature film to be set in the rapidly growing worlds of fighting games and MMA, which both have Internet-native fandoms
• Marks the lead acting debut of MMA fighter Elias Theodorou
• Features cameos by FGC legends Kayane, Justin Wong and Louffy

While we’re not sure what to make of an SFV champion being described as a “toxic gamer bro”, I suppose we have to remember it is intended to be a comedy! An interesting point to note is that while the Indiegogo page lists Wong/Kayane/Luffy/Zhi as part of the cast, it does not indicate the roles they will play — and the press release lists them as featured cameos, so their screen time may be more limited than we’ve expected. As the character Bergeron is planned to face his rival at Canada Cup, it is also unsurprising that Canada Cup organizer Lap Chi Duong is listed on the Indiegogo page as a Co-Producer for the film.

Last Hit also has a Facebook page now; you can read more about the project, the cast and crew, and their crowdfunding efforts on the Indigogo page, or on the Nero Films website.

Source: Nero Films [press release]