Zak, a young man with Down syndrome, escapes from a state-run care facility with the help of his elderly roommate, to train as a professional wrestler under the tutelage of his hero, the Salt Water Redneck. Meanwhile, Tyler, a man fired for bringing in illegal crab catches, burns the gear of his rivals, Duncan and Ratboy, and flees himself.
While on the run, Zak and Tyler meet, and embark on a journey to the Salt Water Redneck's wrestling school in North Carolina. Zak's caretaker at the nursing home, Eleanor, sets out to find Zak and return him safely to the facility. Zak and Tyler become friends while traveling. Tyler teaches Zak various life skills, including how to use a shotgun, and eventually takes on the role of his coach, getting him in shape for his wrestling endeavors. They build a raft and begin traveling by water. Eleanor soon finds them, but after learning her boss intends to send Zak to a more severe form of confinement in an adult mental institution, joins them to travel south. That night, Duncan and Ratboy catch up with the trio, set their raft and supplies on fire, and threaten to shoot Tyler in the hand with a revolver. but Zak defends them with a shotgun.
When they reach Ayden, North Carolina, Tyler learns that the Salt Water Redneck has retired and closed the school, but convinces him to resurrect his alter ego for Zak. Salt Water trains Zak as a wrestler, and quickly puts Zak on a local fight card, which he believes he has rigged for Zak's safety and success. However, when the fight happens, Zak's opponent, Sam, does not hold back, and proceeds to beat him. As Tyler attempts to intervene, Duncan and Ratboy arrive, and Duncan hits Tyler on the head with a tire iron, knocking him unconscious right as Zak manages to lift Sam overhead and throw him forcefully out of the ring, something Salt Water had told him was impossible. The film ends with Tyler healing from the injury, as Eleanor drives him and Zak to Florida, implying the start of a new life for the three of them as a family.
The film is a modern retelling of the Huckleberry Finn story, which takes Gottsagen's own desire to be an actor and changes it into a quest to become a wrestler. Nilson and Schwartz met Gottsagen at a camp for actors with disabilities around 2011 in Venice, California, and he expressed interest in them making a film with him. After shooting a $20,000 proof-of-concept video, with producer David Thies, the duo received funding for the film to star Gottsagen. Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson and Bruce Dern joined the cast for the film in June 2017. In July 2017, production began in Georgia.
Reception
The Peanut Butter Falcon grossed $20.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $23.7 million.
In its limited opening weekend on August 9, the film grossed $205,200 from 17 theaters. The studio reported that the film was number one in more than half of the theaters it played at, including "a big commercial multiplex in Salt Lake City," and locations in Los Angeles, Dallas, Charlotte, Denver and Austin, with "lots of sellouts in various markets."
Video Salt Water Redneck: ...Salt Water, some people claim the Atomic Throw is impossible. Those people are wimps! If you believe in yourself, like the Salt Water Redneck believes in himself, you too can learn the moves…
Carl: [Bends apart metal bars on window using cloth] You put this all over your body. It's soap. It'll make you slippery. I was an engineer before. I don't know if I ever told you that. But that's as good as I could get.…
