Approximately a year after HBO acquired The Survivor at the Toronto Film Festival, the biopic about boxer and Holocaust survivor Harry Haft will finally premiere on the premium cable network April 27.
Directed by Academy Award winner Barry Levinson (Rain Man), The Survivor is based on the book Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano (written by Haft’s son, Alan). The story chronicles Haft’s imprisonment at Auschwitz, where he has to endure the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp, but is also made to fight fellow prisoners in gladiator-type matches for the amusement of his Nazi captors.
HBO released a trailer for the film on Tuesday. Give it a look:
Eventually, Haft (played by Ben Foster) escapes Auschwitz and immigrates to New York, where he attempts to reunite with the woman he loves. Until then, he uses the boxing skills he learned to earn a living, putting him in the ring with fighters such as the legendary Rocky Marciano.
If April 27, a Wednesday, seems like an unusual day for HBO to release a film (the network usually prefers a Saturday or Sunday premiere), the date is in honor of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). In addition to its premiere on HBO, The Survivor will also be available for streaming on HBO Max.
Levinson has plenty of sports cred on his filmography, directing the 30 for 30 documentary, The Band That Wouldn’t Die, in addition to the 2018 HBO sports biopick, Paterno. This isn’t the first time Foster has played a real-life sports figure either, having portrayed Lance Armstrong in 2016’s The Program.
The Survivor premieres on HBO Wednesday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET and will also stream on HBO Max.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
