The Hammer (2010 film)

The Hammer, previously titled Hamill, is a 2010 biographical film about Matt Hamill, a deaf wrestler and mixed martial artist. Oren Kaplan directs the film based on a screenplay cowritten by Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer, who are also the films producers. Russell Harvard, a deaf actor, plays Hamill in the film. The Hammer screened at several film festivals throughout 2010 and 2011. The film was released in theaters on October, 2011.dated info

Also in the film are Gavin Bellour, Stephen Dodd, Theodore Conley, Courtney Halverson, and Susan Gibney. One of Hamills former opponents, Rich Franklin, also appears in the film as Purdue University wrestling coach Pruitt who cuts Hamill from the team.The Hammer is directed by Oren Kaplan based on a screenplay cowritten by Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer, who are also the films producers. Matt Hamill is played by Russell Harvard, who is also deaf. The filmmakers spent over five years developing the project, and they sought out deaf cast and crew members for the film. According to McKelheer, the writers performed roughly 75 rewrites to ensure Hamills support and that the film would not be cheesy. Kostbar was originally intended to play Hamill, but they decided to cast a deaf person as the wrestler to appeal to the deaf community. They first noticed Harvard in his brief role in There Will Be Blood as the adult son of Daniel DayLewis character but were not sure initially if Harvard could portray an athlete. After additional searching that was inconclusive, they chose to cast Harvard as Hamill. ........

Source: Wikipedia