Daniel Radcliffe: 'I think I would beat Elijah Wood in a boxing match'
It was an idea that Fantastic Fest chief creative officer and Alamo Drafthouse founder/CEO Tim League came up with back in 2014, when movies starring Elijah Wood and Daniel Radcliffe both played at the festival.
The annual Fantastic Fest, in Austin, Texas, is known for playing some of the best genre movies on the planet and for having insane events. One is called Fantastic Debates, in which two people debate an issue inside a boxing ring (like, "The samurai is infinitely more bada-- than the cowboy") then put on boxing gloves and literally fight one another to decide a winner.
Here's a taste:
Though the debates have featured the likes of horror director Ti West and Keanu Reeves as participants (well, Reeves only took part in the debate portion), League's dream is to get Wood and Radcliffe in the ring. When I asked Wood at the festival if he would have been up for it he told me, "It might happen one year - you never know."
League told me that when he reached out to Radcliffe's camp about it, the reply was "Hell no!"
"Here's the thing, I should say no, but the competitive part of me is finding it really hard to not just say, Yeah, I think I would beat Elijah Wood in a boxing match. But we'll see. You set it up. I've met him, he's a very nice man - who am I kidding," Radcliffe said as he slammed down his lighter on the table. "I'd love it!"
When League got word of Radcliffe's interest in a Frodo-vs.-Harry Potter battle, he sent this response to Business Insider: