Concussion Director Denies Compromise For NFL

Will Smith's new film about brain injuries in American football players is sparking controversy months before it has even been released.

Citing studio emails leaked in the Sony Pictures hack, the New York Times has reported that Concussion was altered to avoid antagonising the NFL.

The paper quoted one email that discusses a top Sony lawyer taking "most of the bite" out of the film "for legal reasons with the NFL".

In a statement to The Associated Press, Concussion director Peter Landesman disputed that report.

He called his film, in which Smith plays the forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu who discovered that chronic brain damage was a factor in the deaths of NFL players, "a David and Goliath story".

"We always intended to make an entertaining, hard-hitting film about Dr Omalu's David-and-Goliath story, which played out like a Hollywood thriller," said Landesman.

"Anyone who sees the movie will know that it never once compromises the integrity and the power of the real story."

Sony Pictures on Wednesday called the Times story "misleading".

"As will become immediately clear to anyone actually seeing the movie," said its statement, "nothing with regard to this important story has been 'softened' to placate anyone."

The controversy comes months after emails were leaked by hackers angry at the release of Sony Pictures film The Interview - which sends up North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

The main issue with Concussion is whether the film was shaped by direct negotiation with the NFL, an organisation known for aggressive image protection, or if the film was tweaked because of the kind of legal concerns that regularly play a part in any release by a major studio.

Landesman told the Times: "We're just being smart because any large corporation will design a response to something it considers to be a threat to its existence. We don't want to give the NFL a toehold to say, 'They are making it up,' and damage the credibility of the movie."

Concussion was already seen as an enormous public relations threat to the NFL and will be released in US cinemas during the heart of its upcoming season.

In a statement after the film's trailer was released on Monday, Jeff Miller, NFL senior vice president of health and safety policy, said the league is "encouraged by the ongoing focus" on player safety.

"We all know more about this issue than we did 10 or 20 years ago," said Miller. "As we continue to learn more, we apply those learnings to make our game and players safer."

:: Concussion is released in the US in December.