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Kevin Carson (Bow Wow), a young man living in the projects, is just an ordinary guy...until he wins $370 million in the Mondo Millions Lottery. That's the good news. The bad news is, the lottery claim office is closed for the long Fourth of July weekend, so, before he can collect his price, Kevin is going to have to figure out how to keep a lid on his good fortune and survive the next three days.
As news of his windfall spreads through the community like a grass fire, Kevin quickly discovers the good, the bad and the ugly in his closest friends and neighbors. Girls who could never be bothered before start chasing him down. Everyone wants a piece of him--inclusing the reverend, the local loan shark and one very threatening recent parolee won't take no for an answer. On edge and on the run, he even begins to question the intenstions of his best friend, Benny (Brandon T. Jackson). He also starts to realize the power he holds in his hands and what this lottery ticket could really mean to him, his future, and the community. It's funny hwat people will do when money is involved.
About the Production
"If you won the lottery, what would you do?" - Kevin Carson
"When I was a kid, I'd see Ed McMahon on television, going up to someone's house with a giant check," recounts director Erik White, who shares a story credit for "Lottery Ticket." "I always wondered why he never came to the projects, where I lived. I'd think, 'Man, wouldn't it be great if somebody I knew actually won that much money?' The flip side of that was, winning that much money in this neighborhood, where everyone knows your business--would that be a good thing or a bad thing?'"
Scoring big on a Friday night lotto drawing would be especially problematic, since winners couldn't claim their prize till the following Monday. Not a good situation if someone was hoping to keep his good news under wraps while he tried to wrap his own mind around it. "What would a person do? Lock himself in the bathroom and not come out? It was a thought that always intrigued me," White adds.
That idea was the spark for "Lottery Ticket," a universally relatable what-if story that takes a look at that scenario and all the comic fallout that might occur.
Bow Wow, who stars as Kevin, the story's 18-year-old overnight millionaire, says, "Kevin's just a regular guy, going through the things that any normal teenager would go through...if they happened to hit the lottery for 370 million dollars. He's just trying to keep it quiet and get through the weekend until he can claim his money. Of course, nothing goes the way he plans it. One weekend can feel like a week."
To raise the stakes, the filmmakers made sure it was a long weekend, the Fourth of July--and a real scorcher.
Ice Cube stars as Mr. Washington, one of Kevin's few supporters in the ensuing free-for-all. Also an executive producer on the film, he says, "Here's a guy being kicked to the curb for one reason or another, like the whole world was against him, until he got something--the winning ticket--and now everybody loves him, That's when the fun begins. Everybody in the 'hood is after him; everyone in his building, even the local gangster wants to get close to him."
Cube particularly liked how "Lottery Ticket" hones in on that gap time between the promise of wealth and wealth itself, calling it "the quiet before the storm. It's right before you get rich, when people know you're about to become rich, and sometimes they switch on you. Anybody who's gone from nothing to something has probably experienced this."
Screenwriter Abdul Williams, who worked closely with White on developing the story behind "Lottery Ticket," agrees. "Erik and I wanted to focus on that purgatory period, when you hold something valuable but it's not yet real. It can be a huge burden you're not prepared for. Suddenly you have to figure out what to do, who to trust."
Producing partners Matt Burg and Oren Koules, who introduced White to Williams, were also taken with the idea. Matching all the numbers on the big lotto payoff is surely a fantasy for almost everyone, but how many people have thought through the ramifications of what happens next?
"Imagine knowing that this little piece of paper is all that stands between you and several hundred million dollars," Burg proposes.
Says Koules, "Winning could be the easy part."
"From that point, it becomes a comedy of errors, like a road trip that takes place all in one city," says producer Matt Alvarez, acknowledging that from the time Kevin puts that ticket into his pocket, he becomes a moving target.
Between dodging a few dozen of his new best friends, evading the local thugs and trying to resist a whole new world of temptation, Kevin has little opportunity to think about what he's actually going to do with his money. Still, as the reality of it slowly sinks in, he starts to consider some vital questions for the first time, the kinds of questions that would likely occur to anyone suddenly thrust into such a situation.
"The idea of winning the lottery is universal," says producer Broderick Johnson, offering some of the reasons why he and his Alcon Entertainment producing partner Andrew A. Kosove embraced the project, "aside from it being an absolutely hilarious script. Wish fulfillment, and also seeing how people treat you when they think you have money, are themes we can all recognize."
"Beyond the jokes and the fun of seeing everything he has to do to keep himself and his ticket in one piece, we wanted the story to have some meaning," White emphasizes. "So you see Kevin, during the course of this one crazy weekend, finding out who his real friends are, and also finding out who he is and what his life is going to be about."
Toward that end, White and Williams gave their lead character a real job and an entrepreneurial dream about attending design school and maybe one day producing his own line of sneakers. The point being, says Williams, "Kevin doesn't need this money to change his life. He could change his life on his own. The money will just allow him to do it faster."
It's a point of view that resonates with Kosove and Johnson. "We loved the concept," says producer Andrew Kosove. "We thought it was funny but that it also had heart, and a message that's relevant to anyone who has even casually picked up a lottery ticket and thought, 'What could I do with all that money?'"
"We're the only ones who know about the ticket. What could go wrong?" - Benny
"It was like coaching an All-Star game," White proclaims of his multi-talented ensemble cast, a collection of actors and comedians as well as renowned musicians, singer/songwriters and producers. "Everyone was excited and involved. I gave them room to be themselves and make the characters their own, and every day it was something fun and new."
"I believe the caliber of this cast is a tribute to the screenplay. Everyone responded to it," says Broderick Johnson.
In the eye of the storm is Kevin, played by Bow Wow, who launched his rap music career at age five and segued into acting in his early teens. He knew White from his successes as a video director and, as Johnson cited, immediately connected with the story of "Lottery Ticket."
"Kevin is basically a bright young man with some maturity," says Bow Wow. He has to be, with no mom and dad around. He takes care of his grandmother. When Kevin wins the lottery, he knows it's in his best interest to keep it a secret. But you see how well that works out."
"Bow Wow picked up on Kevin's vulnerability in a way that shows us what he's going through, even when he thinks he's got everything figured out," says White.
Through the worst of his weekend marathon, Kevin relies on his lifelong friend Benny for support and advice--some of it good, and some of it highly questionable. Benny is played by Brandon T. Jackson, who admits, "Benny is a little hyper and more high-strung than Kevin. But they have great chemistry as friends, a good balance."
Together, the actors took their dialogue slightly off the page, with Jackson seeing the script as "infrastructure for the scene, but always something you can expand on."
That was all right with Abdul Williams, who says, "With a comedy like this, in the hands of such a gifted cast, there's a certain amount of riffing that's going to happen. If I thought my jokes were funny, they'd elevate those jokes and make them funnier. The best thing for me to do at that point was to stand back."
"Brandon is a ball of energy and when he gets on set you just want him to do his thing," says White, adding that a key part of Benny's character is the depth he hides with his jokes. "I wanted him to show that side of it too, to go beyond just being the funny man, and Brandon really captured that."
Benny's help falls largely into the categories of damage control, distraction and escape strategies because, by the time he is taken into Kevin's confidence, the secret isn't so secret anymore, thanks to a slip-up by Kevin's grandmother. A warm, well-meaning, God-fearing and lotto-addicted force of nature, she just can't suppress her joy and accidentally lets the cat out of the bag just the tiniest little bit. And that's all it takes.
Grandma is played by Loretta Devine. "We didn't want to go with an old-school grandmother," says Mark Burg. "We wanted someone younger and hipper, and who had great timing, and Loretta fit the bill perfectly."
Says Devine of her character, "She loves her grandson dearly and promises him she won't tell a soul, but she falls prey to a nosy neighbor. Before you know it, the entire neighborhood finds out and she feels very bad about it because she knows there's no turning back."
That nosy neighbor is Semaj, played by Charlie Murphy. He's the kind of guy, Williams says, "who has to know everyone else's business. He's there in the morning when you leave for work and there when you come home, and he uses gossip as a kind of currency. We all know this guy, don't we? No neighborhood is without one."
Once the word is out, it's way out, with no chance of reeling it back in. Suddenly, everyone is reaching a hand toward Kevin's pocket. He's not even safe in church.
Reverend Taylor, played by Mike Epps, resplendent in his crimson suit, makes Kevin the uncomfortable focus of a very pointed sermon--enhanced by a slide show that demonstrates the areas in which Kevin's largesse might be put to immediate use.
"Mike really brought that character to life, with the long hair and the crazy suit...he just killed it," says Matt Alvarez.
Unfortunately for Kevin, it's not only the good reverend who's seeking a donation. There's also Lorenzo, the neighborhood's most notorious ex-con, recently paroled and already accustomed to pushing Kevin and his friends around. "I had some real fun with this dude," says Gbenga Akinnagbe of his comedic turn as Lorenzo. "He knows he's the alpha male and everyone's afraid of him, and he works it."
Akinnagbe and White were in sync in crafting Lorenzo as a hood with an edge, "a smart guy who reads the Financial Times," the actor says. "He's the kind of guy who'd beat someone up and take his money, then put it into stocks."
"I liked what Gbenga brought to the table," adds White. "Usually the bad guy is some dumb clown that's in and out of jail but Lorenzo is not just mean, he's smart."
Right behind Lorenzo is a different kind of threat and just as treacherous, albeit one who dresses better and conducts himself with considerably more aplomb: Sweet Tee, the silk-suited, chauffeur-driven local godfather and loan shark who everybody calls "Sir."
Sweet Tee is played with understated menace by Keith David, who shaved his head for the role. Zeroing in on Kevin's näiveté, Tee goes in for a killing. David explains, "He loans Kevin enough up-front cash to see him through the Fourth of July weekend so he can have a ball, until his ticket is redeemed. Of course, it's a handshake contract and Tee never mentions the interest rate, so you know it comes with strings attached."
Hovering in Tee's shadow is his driver, Jimmy, played by Terry Crews. Unlike his boss, Jimmy lacks the skill to keep his cool all the time; it's more of a situational thing with him. Flash enough cash in his face and he can't remember who he works for. "Jimmy the driver has lost his mind," Crews deadpans. "He sees the money Kevin and his friends are suddenly throwing around, they buy him a gold watch, and he's done. He's one of them now, he's gone to the other side."
Meanwhile, on the short list of those Kevin can rely on is Stacie, one of his best friends, played by Naturi Naughton. "She's the girl next door, the one you always think about later, the one who was perfect for you, all the while you were chasing all those other girls because you couldn't see what was right there," Williams suggests.
Says Naughton, "Stacie is intelligent and focused. She wants to break out of the stereotype of where she lives, get an education and change her environment. She wants to make a difference. She's also hiding her true feelings for Kevin. They've been friends for so long, she feels she's invisible to him in that way, so what do you say, and when's the right time?"
"I really liked the story," Naughton continues. "It's fun, but it has some soul. There's a relevant message about appreciating family and friends and not just looking for money to validate us."
Kevin has one more ally, one he never expected: the reclusive Mr. Washington, played by Ice Cube, who was aged up for the role. Mr. Washington has been hiding out in his basement apartment for so many years that all kinds of wild rumors have circulated about his true identity--the most popular of which, enthusiastically favored by Benny, is that he's a serial killer.
On the contrary, notes Andrew Kosove, "He's the moral center of the film."
"It was an interesting choice for Cube, playing an older, mentor-type character, and I think that's what appealed to him about it," says Oren Koules.
"I loved playing Mr. Washington, It's the first chance I've had to play somebody like that, an older cat who has wisdom and wants to spread it on the youngsters," says Cube, who cites his father as inspiration. "I channeled my Pops. He has that kind of energy and old-school wisdom. Of course, he's a lot cooler than Mr. Washington, but they could definitely hang together."
A former sparring partner to boxing greats like Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks, Washington has gone underground for his own reasons but nevertheless keeps track of everything that happens in the community. When the time is right, he has some valuable lessons to impart to Kevin...starting with his left hook. Then, the right.
Says Bow Wow, "He knows Kevin's an innocent dude and needs help."
White based the character partly on famed boxing trainer Naseem Richardson with a little Joe Frazier mixed in, and relates, "I asked Cube to focus on both of them and come up with his own interpretation, which he did. It was an amazing transformation."
The main cast of "Lottery Ticket" also includes Faheem Najm, best known to music fans as Grammy Award-winning rapper T-Pain, in a standout role as Junior, a good-natured guy with the gift of gab who runs the corner store and talks Kevin into taking a first-time chance on a lottery ticket. Teairra Mari appears as Nikki, indisputably the hottest girl in the neighborhood--and she knows it. Nikki is guaranteed to turn heads everywhere she goes, including Kevin's, but she is also the polar opposite of everything Stacie stands for and that's one battle which has been simmering for a long time.
Bill Bellamy is also on hand as the laughably pretentious Giovanni, Nikki's boyfriend of the moment, a do-rag model who drives a canary-yellow Corvette and, says Bellamy, "takes himself way too seriously. The character started out just a real smooth, good-looking cat, a trendsetter, but then Erik and I said, 'Nah, let's blow him out of the water.' So we started playing with it and we had a lot of fun putting him over the top."
Atlanta Stands in for Everywhere, USA
Production began in October 2009, on location in Atlanta, Georgia, because of an offer the filmmakers couldn't refuse: the availability of an existing housing project, vacant save for a handful of remaining units, which was already scheduled to be razed. Production designer Roshelle Berliner and her team briefly turned it into the fictitious Fillmore Housing Community for "Lottery Ticket," and it was demolished shortly after production wrapped.
The site allowed them access to film extensively both before and after sundown. The filmmakers were also able to stage a climactic block party scene involving hundreds of extras that took two days to shoot, without disrupting local life.
Erik White had originally planned to set the story closer to his East Coast roots. "This story is based on my growing up in Brooklyn, and on some of the characters I knew. Initially, I thought of it as a New York movie," he says. But, as things developed and production commenced, he came to prefer the idea of placing it into a non-specific locale.
The production avoided skylines and landmarks that would identify the city, the most prominent of which was The Georgia Dome stadium, adjacent to the set. A portion of the area's mass transit system was renamed and re-dressed for an early scene in which Kevin and Benny trek into town with high hopes of redeeming the ticket, and discover the lottery office closed.
"It's not a New York movie and it's not an Atlanta movie, either," White states. "It turned out not to be about regions but more like Everywhere, USA. The idea is, it's just a neighborhood, any neighborhood, where people are working regular jobs, going to school, hanging out at the corner grocery and trying to get by, and that's not unique to any one place. We can all relate."
What would he do if he won $370 million? "It sounds corny but I would give back, personally, to people. I don't think I'd give to any organization but just make it my goal to help neighborhoods and individuals," White muses, before slyly adding, "Also I'd buy a yacht, a football team and maybe an island. And I wouldn't tell anyone--at least, that would be the plan. But it's hard to keep that kind of thing a secret. Most likely, the same thing would happen to me that happens to Kevin."
 Production notes provided by Warner Bros. Pictures. |
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Lottery Ticket