VIDEO: Trailer for 'Concussion,' film about NFL's concussion treatment, released

This Christmas, Will Smith will star as Dr. Bennet Omalu in "Concussion," a film about Omalu's fight to convince the NFL of the hazardous nature of football as it pertains to brain health.

The first trailer for the film was released Monday in Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column at Sports Illustrated. The Sony-produced film follows Omalu, a Nigerian-born neuropathologist, as he learns of the dangers of football, discovers Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and struggles to get the NFL to listen and admit to his findings.

Alec Baldwin and Luke Wilson also star in the movie, which is directed by Peter Landesman. Landesman said Omalu's personal story, not any sort of agenda about football or the NFL, made him want to make the film:

When I heard about Bennet Omalu, I recognized that the story operated on a number of levels that made it completely unique. As an immigrant coming to America, who discovers a dangerous detail about the most American of things, America’s sacred cow, who then is forced to tell America about itself as a disaffected Nigerian, it was an extraordinary opportunity to explore what it is to be an American. And it was a gorgeous way to understand what it is to be a citizen of this nation. And then there was the sports element. I played football for two years in college, I love the game, I am an athlete, I love sports and I watch football.
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I don’t feel responsible or connected to the consequences. Storytellers can’t be. Otherwise you get hamstrung by your own conscience. You just have to tell the truth with the most integrity that you can.

The NFL, which previously expressed regret over working with PBS on the documentary "League of Denial," has spent "significant time" preparing a response to the movie, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported in July.