Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story? The Real Story Behind Movie!

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Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

Marshall’s us is based on events and is a genuine story. The movie follows the events that followed a plane crash in which 75 people died aboard a plane that had been hired by the Marshal University Football team. In addition to the players, the coach, the support staff, and a few alumni, there were 75 people on board.

Following the tragedy, the university chose to discontinue its football program. After repeated requests from the team’s newly appointed coach and his assistant, they decided to form a new squad. The narrative describes how the team recovered from the incident’s effects and how the town of Huntington, West Virginia, overcame its sorrow.

If We Are The Marshall is based on a tragic true story, you might be curious. You may be wondering how exactly this film is based on actual events. According to the legend, every year before the first game, Marshall’s head coach, Lengyel, led all of the teams to the Spring Hill cemetery. Nearly 80–90% of the movie sequences are factual and authentic.

Are We Are Marshall Based on A True Story?

Yes, the story that “We Are Marshall” is based on is real. Since the movie’s heartbreaking story is based on true events, it hits you harder. The film was directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol, also known as McG, from a screenplay by Jamie Linden that was an adaptation of a tale by Linden and Cory Helms.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

However, because it deals with a traumatic tragedy in a tiny community, it has to be fully honest with the truth. In turn, the scriptwriter did extensive research to make the scene come to life. The names of the characters and the majority of them are thus still true. The tragic Southern Airways Flight 932 crash is followed in the film’s aftermath.

This McDonnell Douglas DC-9 charter flight, which was carrying the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team from North Carolina after their 17-14 loss, crashed on November 14, 1970, not far from the runway, after colliding with a tree. All 37 players had perished in the terrible disaster, according to the extensive list of the dead.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

Furthermore, six players’ identities were not known due to their terrible injuries. Along with the athletes, the disaster claimed the lives of head coach Rick Tolley, his eight coaching assistants, 25 boosters, and five crew members. The jet accident was recognized as the most terrible aviation tragedy in collegiate athletics history as the death toll rose and the town was in disbelief.

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Thundering Herd Football Team: After The Tragedy

After the plane catastrophe, there was no team other than a few veteran players. The team had to be rebuilt by Coach Lengyel using the senior players and other athletes who were still available. Additionally, he attracted freshmen to the gang.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

Lengyel began assembling the team with the aid of West Virginia University. As anticipated, things did not go as planned as the young, inexperienced team lost its first game after the tragedy. The club suffered a series of losses but finished the year with two triumphs.

The team quickly rebounded and is now competing successfully in tournaments. In honor of the squad members lost in the tragedy, the team has begun to emerge with the number 75 printed on the helmet stripe.

We Are Marshall: Making Of The Movie

The notion of turning the events into a movie attracted a lot of authors and filmmakers, who approached Marshal University. When they were prepared, the university originally had no interest in discussing the tragedy, and the filmmakers were unable to persuade them of the notion.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

The narrative made many cries, but Marshall University was unwilling to sell it; they were looking for someone with the heart to do it. Finally, Charles Angeles director Joseph McGinty Nichol (McG) approached the institution with the notion of producing a movie from a different perspective.

McGinty chose to concentrate on joy rather than sorrow and tragedy. He described how the university and the community came out of the darkness of sorrow with a hopeful outlook. Many people were impressed by the concept, yet there was still a lot of opposition to filming the movie.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

A first-of-its-kind action was taken by Warner Brothers. They went to the university with the finished script, which was written by Jamie Linden, an unidentified author. The university students were moved by the tale, and they consented to have the script turned into a film.

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We Are Marshal: Fact vs. Fiction

Real-life stories are infamously destroyed by Hollywood. The institution had some initial reservations about how Hollywood might handle the film. Even though the production team was able to persuade the institution, there were a lot of dramatized sequences in the movie that didn’t actually happen in the genuine narrative.

Is We Are Marshall Based on A True Story

One of them is Nate Ruffin interrupting a meeting with the university president to peer out the window and see the people outside. In support of the football program, which the university intended to suspend, the public was present. This dramatic scene did not actually take place.

Second, a broken-hearted Jack Lengyel brings his squad and an official to a West Virginia University game so they may watch and learn. West Virginia had assisted Marshal in reassembling the group. The movie featured a line from Jack Lengyel’s well-known speech, “The funerals end today,” which Lengyel used to inspire the Marshal squad.