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| (screen capture from upcoming film "Bigger") |
Former Teen Wolf co-stars Tyler Hoechlin (as Joe Weider) and Colton Haynes (as TV fitness guru Jack LaLanne) head up the cast.
Weider and his brother Ben (played by Aneurin Barnard) are widely credited with creating the modern bodybuilding/fitness movement.
From their fitness publishing empire that included Muscle & Fitness, Muscle Power and Shape magazines to Weider Nutrition founded in 1936, to founding the International Federation of Bodybuilders in 1946, the Weiders were THE leading force in fitness in decades.
In 1967, the IFBB launched its first competition, the world-renowned Mr. Olympia.
Weider also discovered and mentored the young Arnold Schwarzenegger for years in the early 1970s.
It wasn't all muscle-bound glory, though. In the 1970s and 1980s, the brothers found themselves the target of several investigations regarding claims of false advertising about their products.
Haynes’ character, Jack LaLanne, became famous as America’s first TV fitness star in the 1950s, long before Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda thought about ‘feeling the burn.’
LaLanne’s TV show, running from 1953 to 1985, championed regular exercise and nutrition.
Writer/director Joe Gallo (Bad Boys, Midnight Run) described the film to Deadline as “beyond inspirational, and will resonate with not only the massive crowd of those who have found the balance of body and mind as essential for a healthy life but also the throngs of people that were inspired by Joe and his Mr. Olympia events.”
The flick also stars Julianne Hough as “Betty Weider,” Instagram celeb/bodybuilder Calum Von Moger as “Arnold Schwarzenegger,” and Billy Reilich (Ellen’s TV ‘gardener’) as English bodybuilder “Reg Park.”
Bigger arrives in theaters October 12.
