Man, we’ve just about had it up to here with the all the curveballs on “Moneyball.” But a New York Times says he’s unequivocally off the project as well. Good, that kind of instantly loses our interest in the project.
As of Tuesday [yesterday, June 30], “Moneyball” was back in development, with Sony executives still hoping at some point to work with Mr. Pitt. But Mr. Soderbergh was off the project. And the studio was gearing up eventually to find someone who would direct something more like the version of the script written by the Oscar-winner Steven Zaillian than the rewritten version by Mr. Soderbergh that scuttled the project.
Earlier today, the L.A. Times ran an interview with Sony Chief Amy Pascal’s thoughts. Essentially, she wants to try and make the film still with star Brad Pitt and a new director. The NY Times says the same thing. However, now the whole issue of Major League Baseball approval is coming up again.
But that might bring problems of its own. One of the reasons Mr. Soderbergh made his script changes was to win the approval of Major League Baseball, which was not happy with some factual liberties in Mr. Zaillian’s version. Such approval is crucial in a reality-based baseball film that intends to use protected trademarks.
So then despite many claims, MLB approval was given? This above graph seems to jive with that elusive email that has been going around that no one, including us, is at liberty to full explain, which of course just clouds it all the more.
Despite the fact that Pascal told the L.A. Times they still want to make the film, the NY Times says Pitt is looking to move on.
Mr. Pitt’s representatives had an eye out for his next picture. Mr. Soderbergh’s were looking for ways to assure that his valuable, if somewhat eccentric, career, would not be harmed by the debacle.
What is this all mean? “Moneyball” is a convoluted mess and at this point, everyone seems to be telling a different story. This is maybe where we say goodbye unless some new interesting news comes to the surface that isn’t minutia. Unless someone equally creative is brought on board as a director, our interest in this project has officially waned/ mostly died. A great Zaillian script to be sure, but you need more than just your average joe to make it interesting otherwise, and Soderbergh was half the reason we were interested in the first place. If it’s an average baseball film then we’ll pass. This one has gone into more than enough extra innings and it feels like the game has been called at this point.
