There's no need for Iowans to wait until Christmas Day to see the long-anticipated biopic on NFL star Kurt Warner. You can be part of a rare opportunity to see a movie that's coming out "in select theaters" before anywhere else.

From Cedar Rapids Regis to the University of Northern Iowa and the Arena Football League, his NFL dream took a bypass through the aisles of Hy-Vee before he was called upon to come off the bench and lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl victory. We all know the story from there, and area theaters have a pre-screening of the film before its December 25 release.

Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin will lead a star-studded cast as Kurt and Brenda Warner in "American Underdog" which also stars, among others, Dennis Quaid as former Rams coach Dick Vermeil.

Warner's rags-to-riches story of hard work and success will be shown to viewers in Cedar Rapids at the Wehrenberg Theater, Waterloo at Crossroads Mall Theater, and other select Marcus facilities this weekend, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. With showtimes at 7 p.m. only on Friday and Saturday, these screenings will have extra bonus content available during the movie.

If you don't want to miss this private screening before the film goes nationwide on Christmas Day, click here for more info.

As you might guess, Warner has had a lot to say about his life and its story on the big screen before its release, including in excerpts of a Christian Post interview picked up by the Gazette, where he said:

“There's a lot of people that have found themselves in situations they never thought they would find themselves in, that 'underdog role' ... It will connect with all of those people in different ways. And I believe it can help challenge them and push them forward.”

We in his home state and around the country indeed continue to be inspired by his perseverance in his "underdog role".

American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story

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