Childhood Friends Fulfill a Lifelong Dream with the Release of Their Wrestling Action-Comedy Feature Film, “Raging Midlife”
Writer/producer Nic Costa, an immigration attorney by day, and writer/director Rob Taylor have just hit big with the upcoming release of their decades-in-the-making wrestling-themed film, “Raging Midlife.”
Described as an offbeat fusion between “The Hangover” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Level 33 Entertainment presents “Raging Midlife,” a wrestling-focused comedy about two lifelong friends’ quest to find their long lost, treasured 80s tank top that was once given to them by their childhood hero, pro-wrestler ‘Raging Abraham Lincoln.’ Their plan hits a snag when the tank top is being auctioned off, and the two friends are out-bid by a grieving daughter aiming to fulfill her father’s dying wish – which leads to a series of outlandish misadventures as the friends set out to retrieve the shirt at all costs.
Costa and Taylor are themselves friends from childhood, where they also grew up as avid pro wrestling fans and admirers of legendary wrestling figures like Hulk Hogan and Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage – who the film’s ‘Raging Abe Lincoln’ character is modeled after. The idea for “Raging Midlife” first came about roughly 20 years ago, not long after the soon-to-be filmmaking duo graduated from Oregon City High School. “The premise was mine on a whim,” Taylor said in an interview for Oregon City News. “All I had [at the time] was two guys lose something they really want in an online auction.” The two were in their early 20s when they actually sat down to begin drafting a script for the film-to-be, and they hit many roadblocks and side-steps along the way.
Finally, in 2020, Taylor and Costa began the process of actually getting the script turned into a movie, including landing stars like Grammy award nominee and icon Paula Abdul (known for “American Idol”), Eddie Griffin (“A Star is Born”) and Walter Koenig (“Star Trek” franchise) to lead the film’s cast. Costa and Taylor also each make their own appearances in the film, which effectively adds to the palpably intimate relationship that the two filmmakers share with this career-spanning project of theirs.
Though the making of the film has been a long and tiresome process for the pair, they are confident that it will be worth the wait. According to Taylor, “we [just] want it to be fun and funny, where people come to the movie and enjoy themselves and not be serious.”
“Raging Midlife” hits select theaters on March 14th, and will be immediately followed by a nationwide video-on-demand release.
