Sony Pictures Entertainment is offering NFL players and their families free admission to the movie during the duration of the film’s run, which begins on Christmas Day.

The studio has already engaged many current and former NFL players, holding private screenings in each team’s city in advance of its opening.

By reaching out to the people who are most impacted by the film’s themes, the studio is engaging with the NFL players to join the national dialogue about the film.

Commenting on the announcement, Ridley Scott and Producer Giannina Scott (who first brought the project to him and produced it with him), said, “This is a movie for the players, so we wanted to give them a chance to see it before its nationwide release and free admission during its run in theaters.”

Players will receive complimentary admission for themselves and one guest by presenting their NFLPA membership card at any Cinemark theater nationwide.

Will Smith stars in Concussion, a dramatic thriller based on the true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known.

The film, a Columbia Pictures presentation in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures, is written and directed by Peter Landesman, based on the GQ article “Game Brain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas.

It is produced by Ridley Scott, Giannina Scott, David Wolthoff, Larry Shuman and Elizabeth Cantillon, and executive produced by Michael Schaefer, David Crockett, Ben Waisbren, Bruce Berman and Greg Basser.

Photo / Video courtesy: Sony Pictures