How does a movie about successful baseball statistics game planning get green lit, let alone a $57 million dollar budget?
Well, Steven Soderbergh — the director of this one, titled, “Moneyball,” — did write a book called, “Getting Away With It,” but the answer seems to be Brad Pitt.
Put him in anything, a piece of mud with a couple of words on it and it’ll get the green light. But this L.A. Times article does put it all in good perspective and articulates just how remarkable this feat is.
Plus they note, that it has no love story, no perceptible villains, and “and lots of wonky baseball chatter.” Apparently the script is incredibly faithful to the source material too.
The final shooting script was written by Steve Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”), but still it seems like the most unlikeliest Hollywood $50+million film ever. Or at least in a long, long time. Let’s not forget, Soderbergh wants to use animation in it, as a narrative gimmick.
Soderbergh apparently is going go cast real Oakland A’s baseball players to play themselves too. “[He’s so adamant about sticking close to the tone and texture of the book that he is having many of the actual characters involved with the 2002-era events — including Oakland A’s Manager Art Howe, catcher turned-first baseman Scott Hatteberg and outfielder David Justice — play themselves.”
The film is set to start shooting June 11 and knowing Soderbergh — who again is acting as the cinematographer on this one — he’s probably have it in the can in five months and will start working, possibly shooting on something else.