Moneyball movie

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The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. Movie is directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) and has very good cast list - Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman.October, 12. 2010.

The production has now moved to Boston, where Brad Pitt and company have begun filming on Lansdowne Street just outside of Fenway Park. Lucky for those of us with a new found interest in the project, Splash News has gotten their hands on some photos from the shoot. It feels as though the movie has been lensing forever (or at least since mid-July), so they must be wrapping soon. Let's hope there will be a trailer ready to go by the time Sorkin picks up his Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Source - cinemablend.com August, 4. 2010.
Source - firstshowing.net July, 23. 2010.
Source - joblo.com July, 13. 2010.

If you’re a fan of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, then you already know the name Chris Pratt.  The actor plays Pawnee, Indiana’s favorite shoeshiner, Andy Dwyer, on the Thursday night comedy and is consistently one of the funniest characters on the show (for the record, I prefer Scarecrow Boat to Mouse Rat).  Pratt will soon be taking his talents to the big screen with a role in the Columbia drama, Moneyball.

While he is no stranger to film Pratt has recently appeared in Wanted and Jennifer’s Body this role has the potential to be a huge step forward for the actor as he will be working alongside the likes of Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman.  For more information on the film as well as the character Pratt will be portraying, hit the jump.

“Pratt will play Scott Hatteberg, whose career as a catcher for the Boston Red Sox ended after he ruptured a nerve in his elbow and could no longer throw a ball post-surgery.  He was recruited by the Oakland A’s the following year to play first base, and he helped lead the team to the playoffs in 2002 and 2003 with strong batting as a designated hitter.”

Source - collider.com

July, 11. 2010.

She’s best known for tracking down long-dormant murder cases on US TV drama Cold Case these days, but Kathryn Morris is negotiating to join the cast of Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball.

Morris, seen in the likes of Minority Report and Paycheck, is in talks to play the wife of Pitt’s character, Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane. She’ll share his passion for the game and support him as he launches his ambitious idea to pick a winning team based on technological advice to counter the fact that he has a lower budget than some of his competitors.

Moneyball, which has a script by Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, has been in and out of limbo as financing and script issues dogged the film, not to mention the sudden departure of original director Steven Soderbergh.

Jonah Hill, Robin Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Stephen Bishop are also all aboard the movie, which Capote director Bennett Miller starts shooting next week in Los Angeles.

Source - empireonline.com

July, 1. 2010.

Stephen Bishop ("The Rundown," "Friday Night Lights") has joined the cast of "Moneyball" for Sony Pictures says Reuters.

Based on Michael Lewis' nonfiction bestseller, the story follows Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) who assembled a contending baseball club on a shoestring budget by employing a sophisticated computer-based analysis to draft players.

Bishop will play baseball slugger David Justice, a longtime member of the Atlanta Braves who played his final MLB season for the team in 2002 - the year they made the playoffs.

Source - darkhorizons.com

June, 2. 2010.

Steve Zaillian is back in the lineup on Moneyball, the Columbia Pictures baseball film based on the Michael Lewis book. If you recall, Zaillian wrote the Moneyball draft that had the studio  ready to put the baseball film into production until a Steve Soderbergh rewrite detoured the film about Oakland As general manager Billy Beane into docudrama territory and the movie was unplugged the weekend before shooting began. Zaillian was unavailable when Sony was ready to try again, and the studio brought on Aaron Sorkin, who had just finished The Social Network for the studio.

Insiders roundly credit Sorkin's work for making the film a go, with Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jonah Hill and Robin Wright committed. But director Bennett Miller wanted to bring back three scenes from the Zaillian script. Since he completed his own adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Zaillian was available to return. Sorkin is still firmly in the picture, though, and will do a final polish before production begins July 12

Source - deadline.com

May, 18. 2010.

Philip Seymour Hoffman reunite with his Capote director Bennett Miller for the adaptation of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball.  Variety reports that the Oscar-winning actor is in talks along with Robin Wright to co-star alongside Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in the baseball statistics movie.  Okay, here’s a better description:

Based on Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book, story centers on the 2002 Oakland Athletics, who were led by general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) to an excellent season despite having the lowest payroll in the Major Leagues. Hoffman would play team manager Art Howe, who frequently clashed with Beane over strategic decisions.

Source - collider.com

April, 14. 2010.

The pre-production fiasco that has plagued Moneyball looks like it finally cleared up, as the film now has  a date to begin shooting. Deadline reports Columbia Pictures and Major League Baseball are on board to start production of the Michael Lewis book adaptation in July . Brad Pitt is still set to star as Billy Beane, while Jonah Hill will portray Paul DePodesta.

You could make a documentary on the process of getting Moneyball into production, but once production finally begins, everything should settle into a nice groove. There is some great buzz surrounding Aaron Sorkin’s rough script, which should come as no surprise to anybody who has read the book the film is based on.

Arguably the best Michael Lewis book, Moneyball is the story of General Manager Billy Beane’s unprecedented approach to bringing affordable talent to the Oakland Athletics baseball organization by focusing on previously ignored statistics that best predict an athlete’s potential. This strategy led to an eventual division title for the A’s, and a competitive team worth a fraction of the cost of mega-budget teams like the New York Yankees.

In the movie, Beane’s relationship with front-office assistant Paul DePodesta will be a major focus. These two redefined the way organizations approach player development, leaving a watermark on the future (now present) of Major League Baseball.

Organizations have been trying to lower overall expenses, not so much because of the economy, but because Billy Beane proved talent is out there in the Minor Leagues without having to spend big bucks. Think Major League’s portrayal of management, but without the intention of failure.

At one point, Moneyball was to be directed by Steven Soderbergh, prompting Brad Pitt to take a pay cut in order to keep his good friend at the helm. But when production was halted only three days before a scheduled shoot date and Soderbergh left, Pitt’s desired salary jumped back up to $15 million.

Well, between then and now it seems like Pitt’s fee has been reduced to $10 million, with the film’s budget lowered from $60 million to $47 million. Deadline reports Pitt will have some kind of back-end agreement, probably resulting in millions of dollars in his pocket after the film releases.

As great as Soderbergh would have been at depicting the true story, Capote director Bennett Miller isn’t any worse. As great as the story is, the people behind the scenes will make a huge impact. For instance, people flocked to the latest Michael Lewis book adaptation, The Blind Side, after excitement grew over Sandra Bullock’s performance. But again, this is largely thanks to Lewis, who writes about strong, focused characters that have stories worth telling.

One of those characters is Paul DePodesta, who will be played by Jonah Hill. The much more befitting Demetri Martin was once tagged to portray the “handy sidekick,” but for some insane reason, somebody thought Hill would make better fit. Hate me all you want, but this casting choice makes no sense to me. I’ll save most of my grief (or relief) for when I see the film in finished form, but I’ve got two problems with this.

The obvious concern is how little Hill looks like his real-life counterpart. If Hill has any plans on looking the part, he better hit the gym and get fit enough to look good wearing suits all film. But looks aren’t everything – talent makes a great character. Jonah Hill is not a bad actor, I will say. He is hilarious and great at ad-libbing with his co-stars.

The relationship between Beane and DePodesta is one of two friends that share a constant sense of humor, so Pitt and Hill feeding off each other could end up being great. But I need to believe a guy like Hill can pass for a genius like DePodesta, especially considering they look absolutely nothing alike. Without roles like this, though, how will Hill ever break out from being typecast?

Getting a solid starting date for production is a major step for Moneyball. Sure, we’ve seen this before and the studio still ended up tossing the film in the recycle bin, but with an allegedly great script, don’t expect that to happen again. The success of The Blind Side should be even more motivation to get this project off the ground.

Moneyball is set to being filming in July.

Source - screenrant.com