Sony Pictures is not letting Moneyball, the Brad Pitt baseball flick, die. The studio announced today that Bennett Miller, who was nominated for a Best Director Academy Award for Capote, is in negotiations to helm the project that was dismantled after Steven Soderbergh exited the project in June 2009, a few weeks before production was to begin. Based on the bestselling book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball tells the story of Billy Beane, general manager of the low-ranked Oakland A’s, who defies baseball convention to recruit a new bench of players in extremely unorthodox ways. The screenplay is from Steve Zaillian (American Gangster) and Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing).
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I loved the book but I have always been dubious about what kind of feature film this would be. It’s struck me as odd when I first heard that Pitt and Soderbergh were involved. I love the book because I love baseball and breaking down statistics, but will that appeal to a mainstream movie audience? I imagine it wouldn’t and that this film will be Hollywood-ized, which would be unfortunate.
Um, everyone DOES realize that not only have the A’s not won the World Series in the Moneyball era… they haven’t even won the AL Pennant? So there’s no happy Hollywood ending here. In fact, in recent years, the A’s have kind of been a joke, and many of the players Beane targeted haven’t panned out. How is this a movie?
How is this a movie? Billy Beane was responsible figuring a new way to run a baseball team against the status quo. That specific 2002 team lost it’s three best players, using moneyball replaced them with fringe free agents and they won the AL West! How is this not a movie? You also forget, bigger budgeted teams have now copied Beane’s method and are reaping the rewards which is why the A’s are struggling now
They won the AL West… woohoo. That and a bag of potato chips gets you salty lips. The A’s won the AL West in 2002 because the Mariners didn’t step up to the plate and make a trade at the deadline, and pulled a really bad fade. The A’s were a good but not great team that was able to take advantage of another team’s stupidity. That’s not a movie, especially since they didn’t go to the World Series. If it’s a high school or college team, just making it to the playoffs might be good enough, but not an MLB team. There’s more of a reason to make a movie about the 2008 Rays than the 2002 A’s. At least they came close to winning it all. The A’s haven’t since the Bash Brothers days. Moneyball is NOT worthy of a movie… even a made-for-TV movie.
I can’t wait for the closing text of the film:
“Barry Zito went on to struggle with the Giants. Mark Mulder can’t feel his left arm. Joe Blanton was traded, won a World Series with the Phillies. Nick Swisher was traded, won a World Series with the Yankees. Paul DePodesta was run out of Los Angeles by angry Dodger fans. Billy Beane is still employed and insists that Daric Barton is the next big thing.”
Not only are the A’s one of the greatest franchises in baseball history, winning 14 division titles, 14 pennants and 9 World Series (until the Cardinals won their 10th recently, only the Yankees have won more World Series), but the A’s did pretty good using the Moneyball draft:
2000-Won AL West-lost ALDS to Yanks, 2 games to 3
2001-2nd in AL West-lost ALDS to Yanks, 2 games to 3
2002-Won AL West-lost ALDS to Twins, 2 games to 3
2003-Won AL West-lost ALDS to Sox, 2 games to 3
2004-2nd in AL West
2005-2nd in AL West
2006-Won AL West, Swept the Twins 3 games to none in ALDS, went to the ALCS, lost to Tigers.
Winning their division 6 times, going to the playoffs 5 times (including going to the ALCS-one series from the World Series), while having one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball. I’d say that’s pretty good, not to mention how many other teams adopted their philosophy.
And still nobody cares.
This might be a good move. Miller is related to the GM of the Red Sox, Theo Epstein, so Miller might have a better feel for the baseball side of the story.
Brad is in a class of his own,l cant to see his sheer brilliance on the set again
Wasting more time with this routine
comfort-zone, circle-jerk slop.
Hollywood = DEADWOOD
A fantastic book! I am really looking forward to seeing what sort of movie Pitt, Sorkin, etc. turn out.
Wait. Someone was worried about this book becoming Hollywood-ized when Soderbergh was attached to direct it? I believe Soderbergh is “retiring” from directing precisely because everyone in Hollywood wanted him to Hollywood-ize his concepts for movies.