The filmmaker behind The Last Rodeo revealed the real-life influences that inspired the new bull-riding film. The latest movie from Angel Studios (who fans may know from Homestead, The King of Kings, and The Chosen) stars Band of Brothers actor Neal McDonough as professional bull rider Joe Wainright, returning to the sport after years away cattle-riding craft. Part of the movie's marketing campaign has been centered around an aim for authenticity, which is primarily thanks to the cooperation of Professional Bull Riding (aka PBR), allowing the film to shoot at various events, but it also comes from a place a lot closer to home.
The Last Rodeo star and writer Neal McDonough pulled the curtain back on what went into making the new faith-based drama and some of the key inspirations behind the cow-poking cinematic event.
In a conversation with Crosswalk, McDonough posited that the idea for the movie came to him while he was away from his family, shooting another project with his wife, Ruvé McDonough.
During that other production, separated from their kids, he had an intrusive thought of "What would ever happen if something ever happened to Ruvé," then came to him this idea of an older parent getting back into a dangerous pastime and some all-knowing force making sure they remain safe:
"We were doing a film– Ruvé [McDonough] and I, we have our own production company, the McDonough Company, and we're doing a film at the time called 'The Warrant Part Two' for INSP. And as I was filming, Ruvé and the kids were home, and I was filming in Arizona, and I was just missing them as I do, and a dark thought came into my brain said, 'What would ever happen if something ever happened to Ruvé?'"
McDonough then noted that he was presented with this image of "Rocky on a bull" in his head, being inspired by the Sylvester Stallone boxing classic:
"And then, I'm fairly certain that God planted the idea in my head: Rocky on a bull, a retired rodeo legend, has to go back for a certain reason and ride again. I've never been to a rodeo. I'd never seen the rodeo. I've been riding horses since I was a little kid, but never anything on a bull. And within 24 hours, I had voice dictated basically the outline of the whole film. It just spewed out of me, and then I called my writing partner, Derek Presley, and then we started on a draft. And within a week, we had our first draft, and within a week after that, we had the financing. This was God's divine intervention all over the place..."
The Last Rodeo is now playing in theaters, telling the story of Neal McDonough's Joe Wainright, a 50-year-old former bull rider who (for lack of a better term) gets back up on that bull after being called to the sport once again—sounds a little bit like the upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt.
The bull riding drama, directed by Fried Green Tomatoes filmmaker Joe Avnet, stars McDonough alongside his wife, Ruvé, Mykelti Williamson, and Christopher McDonald, among others.
The Last Rodeo Real-Life Influences Don't Stop There
While The Last Rodeo might seem likely an unlikely blockbuster hit on paper, hearing how someone like Neal McDonough came up with the idea makes the movie make all the sense in the world.
The idea of "Rocky on a bull" is a unique twist on the sports movie formula that has not been explored on the big screen to this point. The Last Rodeo goes even further by putting the audience right in the center of this personal story of sports triumph.
McDonough's got to incorporate the real-life inspiration of people putting their lives at risk and letting faith decide by completing filming on the project at real-world Professional Bull Riding events.
This meant that the film's plenty of bull riding action looked as real as possible, with authentic professional bull riders getting on the bulls for many of its in-arena action sequences.
Not to throw another movie into the mix of potential inspirations for the film, but it almost takes a page out of something like Top Gun: Maverick's books in that respect, getting as close to the action as possible by using real-life footage collected during production rather than extended CGI scenes made to mimic the real thing.
