I, Tonya is an upcoming film about ’90s figure skater Tonya Harding, played by Margot Robbie. The film revolves around Harding’s early life, her career and the moment that made her name synonymous with Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). After a 1994 practice session Shane Stant (Ricky Russert), who had been hired by Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) and her bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser), attacked Kerrigan so she wouldn’t be able to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer leaving the field wide open for Harding to win.
After the attack the tabloid media ran with the story for weeks with magazines such as Time and Newsweek writing cover stories about the case alleging Harding had helped plot the attack on her rival for personal gain. Neither of the two women had much of a career in figure skating after the incident. Harding experimented with pro wrestling and boxing while Kerrigan quit competitive skating in favor of appearing in ice shows such as Broadway on Ice.
According to a Boston Globe review cited in this teaser trailer, the film is “hilarious, sharp, snarling, pitch perfect” which seems like a strange fit for a story like this, even though it has been done with films like Bernie. Since this is only a teaser trailer we’ll have to wait and see how this film pans out. Interestingly, reviews of the film have been largely positive so far. With all that being said, one can only wonder how Nancy Kerrigan feels about this.
I, Tonya is directed by Craig Gillespie and stars Margot Robbie, Caitlin Carver, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan and others. It will be released in the U.S. on December 8th, 2017 and in the U.K. on February 16th, 2018. For international release dates click here.
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