# Bigger (film)

**Bigger** is a 2018 American biographical drama directed by George Gallo that dramatizes the lives of Joe and Ben Weider, the Montreal-born brothers who built a fitness and bodybuilding empire despite poverty and anti-Semitism, and who discovered and mentored a young [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://www.edgepedia.org/arnold-schwarzenegger).<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup> Tyler Hoechlin stars as [Joe Weider](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-weider), with [Aneurin Barnard](https://www.edgepedia.org/aneurin-barnard) as Ben, Julianne Hough as Betty Weider, and bodybuilder Calum Von Moger as Schwarzenegger.<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup> The film received a limited theatrical release on October 12, 2018 through Freestyle Releasing and was poorly received by critics.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | George Gallo directed; screenplay by Andy Weiss, George Gallo, Brad Furman, and Ellen Sue Brown<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup> |
| Release | Limited theatrical release October 12, 2018 (Freestyle Releasing); streaming January 15, 2019<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup> |
| Runtime and rating | 107 minutes, rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, some suggestive content, and brief violence<sup>[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bigger)</sup> |
| Lead cast | Tyler Hoechlin (Joe Weider), Aneurin Barnard (Ben Weider), Julianne Hough (Betty Weider), Calum Von Moger (Arnold Schwarzenegger)<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup> |
| Box office | $49,997 worldwide, of which $46,382 was domestic, on a $31,477 opening weekend<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3226786/)</sup> |
| Critical reception | 11% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 9 reviews; 37 on Metacritic; 6.4/10 on IMDb<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bigger/critic-reviews/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3226786)</sup> |
| Family involvement | Executive produced by Eric Weider, Ben Weider's son and Joe's nephew<sup>[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Plot

The film is framed as a flashback. It opens in 2008 at the funeral of Ben Weider, where the elderly Joe Weider ([Robert Forster](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-forster)) agrees to tell his life story to a journalist ([DJ Qualls](https://www.edgepedia.org/dj-qualls)).<sup>[8](https://www.thewrap.com/bigger-film-review-joe-weider-schwarzenegger/)</sup> The story then flashes back to Joe's 1919 birth in Montreal and a Depression-era Jewish childhood in which the brothers endure anti-Semitic slurs and alley fights.<sup>[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)</sup> A glimpse of a circus strongman sparks Joe's interest in weight training; in 1937 a newly bulked-up Joe wins his first strongman competition.<sup>[8](https://www.thewrap.com/bigger-film-review-joe-weider-schwarzenegger/)</sup>

Joe draws idealized male figures and plots what the film calls "the path to the perfect physique," publishing his findings in a fanzine that grows into a mainstream magazine.<sup>[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)</sup> The brothers face a lifelong antagonist in rival muscle-mag publisher Bill Hauk ([Kevin Durand](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-durand)), a character who is entirely fictional and generally understood to be a composite of the adversaries the Weiders actually encountered.<sup>[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3226786)</sup> The narrative follows Joe's marriage to the pin-up model [Betty Brosmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/betty-brosmer) ([Julianne Hough](https://www.edgepedia.org/julianne-hough)), his commercialization of public gyms alongside Jack LaLanne (Colton Haynes), and his mentorship of a young Austrian bodybuilder named Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom Joe brings to the United States and helps train.<sup>[9](https://cultmtl.com/2018/10/bigger-joe-weider/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[10](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)</sup>

## Cast

- [Tyler Hoechlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-hoechlin) as Joe Weider<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- Aneurin Barnard as Ben Weider<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- Julianne Hough as Betty Weider<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- [Victoria Justice](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-justice) as Kathy Weider, Joe's first wife<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- [Calum Von Moger](https://www.edgepedia.org/calum-von-moger) as Arnold Schwarzenegger<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- Kevin Durand as Bill Hauk<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- Robert Forster as Joe Weider in 2008<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>
- Colton Haynes as Jack LaLanne; Max Martini as Jerry George; Tom Arnold as Roy Hawkins; Steve Guttenberg as Louis Weider; DJ Qualls as Michael Steere<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)</sup>

## Production

Producer Steve Lee Jones of Bee Holder Productions secured the life-story rights to Joe and Ben Weider from Weider Health and Fitness, along with book rights to *Brothers of Iron*, and described the project as the first mainstream scripted feature about the fitness world.<sup>[11](https://beeholder.com/press/bigger/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[10](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)</sup> Eric Weider, Ben's son, served as executive producer, and Dan Solomon, a bodybuilding announcer and fitness-media figure, was a co-executive producer.<sup>[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[12](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bigger-%282018%29)</sup> Jones personally cast the leading roles, choosing Tyler Hoechlin for Joe and Julianne Hough for Betty, and worked with director George Gallo, whose earlier credits include *Midnight Run* and *Middle Men*.<sup>[10](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/george-gallo-direct-covet-reteams-144903372.html)</sup>

For Schwarzenegger, Jones turned to the Australian bodybuilder and actor Calum Von Moger, a three-time Mr. Universe winner recommended by Dan Solomon. Von Moger trained for two months to approximate Arnold's shape and consulted Schwarzenegger himself at [Gold's Gym](https://www.edgepedia.org/golds-gym) about posing, including the vacuum pose.<sup>[14](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a18210398/calum-von-moger-interview-arnold-schwarzenegger-bigger-movie/)</sup> Filming took place in [Birmingham, Alabama](https://www.edgepedia.org/birmingham-alabama), in October and November 2017.<sup>[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3226786)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a18210398/calum-von-moger-interview-arnold-schwarzenegger-bigger-movie/)</sup> Freestyle Releasing acquired U.S. theatrical distribution rights in August 2018.<sup>[15](https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/flex-news/bigger-movie/)</sup>

## Historical background

The film's subject rests on a documented business history. From his parents' modest Montreal home in 1940, the teenage weightlifter Joe Weider launched a publishing and business empire, staging physique contests and founding the International Federation of Bodybuilders; Ben ran the Canadian operations while Joe expanded into the United States.<sup>[16](https://press.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwo/catalog/book/570)</sup> In a later interview, Ben Weider dated the IFBB's founding to 1946, saying he and Joe formed their own federation after the [Amateur Athletic Union](https://www.edgepedia.org/amateur-athletic-union), at Bob Hoffman's behest, pulled the sanction for their Montreal competition; that first contest drew about 60 athletes and a packed house of 1,200 at $2.50 a ticket.<sup>[17](https://www.getbig.com/iview/benweider01.htm)</sup> James Woycke, a historian at Western University who wrote the first comprehensive history of North American bodybuilding, gives the IFBB's founding year as 1947, so the sources differ on the exact date.<sup>[16](https://press.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwo/catalog/book/570)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://www.getbig.com/iview/benweider01.htm)</sup>

Joe Weider published *Your Physique*, later renamed *Muscle & Fitness*, and created the [Mr. Olympia](https://www.edgepedia.org/mr-olympia) competition in 1965, adding Ms. Olympia in 1980, Fitness Olympia in 1995, and Figure Olympia in 2003.<sup>[10](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)</sup> He brought Schwarzenegger to the United States early in the bodybuilder's career and promoted him relentlessly; Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Olympia title seven times, in 1970 through 1975 and in 1980.<sup>[10](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)</sup> Ben Weider died in 2008 at age 85 and Joe in 2013 at 93.<sup>[9](https://cultmtl.com/2018/10/bigger-joe-weider/)</sup>

## Accuracy

Reviewers and the family's own participation point to substantial fictionalizing. Common Sense Media's review notes that Joe's first marriage passes in a blink and the daughter it produced is absent from the film, that the timeline of his meeting his second wife is adjusted, and that his later product-related scandals are excised; Ben's status as a Nobel Peace Prize nominee is mentioned only in passing.<sup>[3](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bigger)</sup> Glenn Kenny, formerly chief film critic of *Premiere* magazine, called the film, executive produced by Ben's son Eric, "a bit of a secular hagiography."

## Reception

**Critical response was negative.** On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 11% Tomatometer from 9 reviews, with 1 fresh and 8 rotten, against a 78% audience Popcornmeter score from more than 100 ratings.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup> Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 37, labeled generally unfavorable, based on 5 critic reviews.<sup>[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bigger/critic-reviews/)</sup> IMDb users gave it 6.4 out of 10 from about 3,400 votes.<sup>[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3226786)</sup>

Critics singled out the Schwarzenegger portrayal. The Los Angeles Times' Michael Rechtshaffen called Calum Von Moger's "playful, dead-ringer impersonation" of a baby-faced Arnold the film's lone exception to its tired clichés, while faulting the direction and script.<sup>[18](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-bigger-review-20181011-story.html)</sup> Robert Abele of TheWrap called the film "a missed opportunity, the kind of yo-yo-ing highlights version of a life that seems less examined than expedited," noting that the Arnold segment compresses more than ten years into what feels like a blip.<sup>[8](https://www.thewrap.com/bigger-film-review-joe-weider-schwarzenegger/)</sup> Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com wrote that he would not have known what the film was about until half an hour in without a press release.<sup>[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)</sup>

**Commercially the film barely registered.** It opened on October 12, 2018 with $31,477 domestically and grossed $46,382 in the United States and $3,615 internationally, for a worldwide total of $49,997.<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3226786/)</sup> Later releases included Russia/CIS in October 2019 and Portugal in February 2020.<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3226786/)</sup> It became available on streaming and digital platforms from January 15, 2019.<sup>[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)</sup>

## References

1. [Bigger, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger)
2. [Bigger: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bigger/cast-and-crew)
3. [Bigger – Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bigger)
4. [Bigger (2018), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt3226786/)
5. [Bigger critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bigger/critic-reviews/)
6. [Bigger (2018), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3226786)
7. [Bigger movie review & film summary, Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bigger-2018)
8. ['Bigger' Film Review: Bodybuilding Biopic Won't Pump You Up, Robert Abele, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/bigger-film-review-joe-weider-schwarzenegger/)
9. [Bigger tells the story of Montrealer Joe Weider, the father of modern fitness, Cult MTL](https://cultmtl.com/2018/10/bigger-joe-weider/)
10. [Bigger Production Notes](https://indigenousfilm.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/BIGGER_PRODUCTION_NOTES_03032020.pdf)
11. [Hollywood is about to get BIGGER!, Bee Holder Productions](https://beeholder.com/press/bigger/)
12. [Bigger (2018), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Bigger-%282018%29)
13. [George Gallo To Direct 'Covet', Reteaming With 'Bigger' Producers, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/george-gallo-direct-covet-reteams-144903372.html)
14. [Bodybuilder Calum von Moger Reveals Pose Arnold Schwarzenegger Told Him to Practice, Men's Health](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a18210398/calum-von-moger-interview-arnold-schwarzenegger-bigger-movie/)
15. [BIGGER the Movie!, Muscle & Fitness](https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/flex-news/bigger-movie/)
16. [Esprit de Corps: A History of North American Bodybuilding, James Woycke, Western University](https://press.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/uwo/catalog/book/570)
17. [Interview: Ben Weider, GetBig.com](https://www.getbig.com/iview/benweider01.htm)
18. [Review: Fitness gurus biopic 'Bigger' is not better, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-bigger-review-20181011-story.html)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2017 and 2018*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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