Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is a 2004 sports comedy film written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and starring Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, and Rip Torn.
Goodman attempts to seduce attorney Kate Veatch, who is handling his account; repulsed, she cites conflict of interest (COI) to rebuff his disturbing advances.
Peter, gym employees Dwight Baumgarten and Owen Dittman, and members Steve "Pirate" Cowan, Justin Redman, and Gordon Pibb unite to raise the required money.
Girl Scout Troop 417 easily defeats them at the sub-regional qualifiers the following day, but are disqualified due to one member failing a drug test, which results in Average Joe's winning by default.
Having spied on Average Joe's using a hidden camera in a cutout of himself, Goodman forms his own dodgeball team, the Globo Gym Purple Cobras, and surprises Gordon by revealing he bypassed the mandatory qualification match thanks to his camaraderie with the chancellor.
Goodman arrives at Kate's house uninvited and reveals that he misled her bosses about her stealing and drinking on the job, thus getting her fired from her law firm and freeing him to date her.
On the day of the final, Justin assists his classmate and love interest Amber in a cheerleading competition after his rival Derek becomes severely injured, leaving Average Joe's short of players.
Peter then announces his intention to invest in the controlling stake of the publicly-traded Globo Gym, allowing him to own it and its subsidiaries, which now include Average Joe's, before firing Goodman.
After the ending was viewed negatively by the test audiences, the sudden death match and Average Joe's winning the dodgeball tournament were added alongside White going back to obesity.
Rawson Marshall Thurber's debut feature, starring Ben Stiller opposite Vince Vaughn, is erratic, imbecilic if not completely idiotic, inconsequential in even the small scheme of things, and thoroughly entertaining".
[25] Roger Ebert gave the film a three stars out of four rating in his Chicago Sun-Times review and writes "in a miraculous gift to the audience, 20th Century-Fox does not reveal all of the best gags in its trailer.
"[26] On April 22, 2013, it was announced that 20th Century Fox had started developing a sequel to the film, with Clay Tarver writing the script and Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn returning to star.
[29] On April 27, 2023, it was announced that 20th Century Studios had re-begun production on a sequel, with actor Vince Vaughn set to return, and possibly serve as a producer on the new film.
In the spirit of the programming depicted in the film, it consisted of lesser-known and unconventional sports and competitions—including trampoline dodgeball, darts, disc golf, kabaddi, and roller derby.