By Shawn Smith
Get ready to root for the under…goat?
The upcoming Sony release GOAT might be a “love letter to basketball,” according to co-director Adam Rosette, but he says there’s something for everyone.
“We wanted to make sure that it was universal as well,” Rosette said. “So even though we have those things in there, and you can be like, ‘That’s a Jamal Crawford crossover,’ and ‘Oh, that’s the dunk from the 2015 NBA dunk contest’ or ‘Will’s shot form is exactly Steph Curry, single motion’…we got in there with the story.”
“We wanted to make sure that it resonated for people who love basketball as much as we do as well for people who may or may not love the sport,” he added.
GOAT is technically not a basketball movie, but it’s about an animal kingdom version of the sport called roarball where instead of played on two feet, roarball “can happen on all fours, feet, hands, horns, wings, tails, tongues,” and “the courts are just as wild as the competition.”
Produced by Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, GOAT stars Caleb McLaughlin as Will, Gabrielle Union as Jett, Nick Kroll as Modo and Curry as Lenny.
“The story follows Will, a small goat with big dreams who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball – a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world,” a summary of the movie reads. “Will’s new teammates aren’t thrilled about having a little goat on their roster, but Will is determined to revolutionize the sport and prove once and for all that ‘smalls can ball!’”
GOAT is inspired by Stephen Curry’s underdog story. He was considered too small and lacking strength by scouts early in his career and felt there was a lot to relate to in the character Will.
“I think broadly, it’s Will’s kind of journey of you know, the underdog, they overlooked the late bloomer who has some doubts, but when he’s presented an opportunity, you can see the determination and the will to succeed, even if it it’s not on your own timeline,” Curry told Blavity “So I think that’s been part of my basketball journey from the time I started playing and even now, it sometimes doesn’t sound right, but I still carry that underdog mentality with me. It’s still part of my DNA.”
The four-time NBA championship winner says that mentality is the “gas in the tank” that keeps him playing strong.
McLaughlin echoed those sentiments about its relatability, adding another theme from the movie is the message of finding the right people “on your team” no matter what the dream is.
The STRANGER THINGS star said, “It’s a goofy, like fun film, but it’s more layers to it. It teaches you about a lot about life and the rules to being great, like the ambition, having the right people around you to support you. You can’t do it on your own, and it takes a team effort.”
GOAT comes out in theaters Feb. 13, 2026.
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