Remember how excited you were when Steven Soderbergh announced he was making a film version of the decidedly un-film-like book ‘Moneyball,’ about Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane’s success competing in a small market?
Well simmer down, nerd-o.
Columbia Pictures has dropped the ball on “Moneyball,” the Steven Soderbergh-directed Brad Pitt starrer that was supposed to begin production on Monday in Phoenix.
On Friday, Columbia Pictures topper Amy Pascal placed the picture into “limited turnaround,” giving the filmmaker the chance to set it up at another studio, with Warner Bros. and Paramount the prime targets.
The move came after Pascal read a rewrite that Soderbergh did to Steven Zaillian’s script and found it very different from the earlier scripts she championed. Pascal was uncomfortable enough with how the vision had changed that she applied the brakes. Variety.
Translation: the script sucked. And when it’s a Brad Pitt film you’re scrapping, that means the script REALLY sucked.
Soderbergh and Pitt’s CAA reps spent the weekend attempting to get another studio to play ball.
If a new financier doesn’t emerge by today, Columbia will re-examine options that include replacing Soderbergh (and hoping Pitt doesn’t ankle), delaying the film until Pascal and the filmmaker find themselves in synch on the script or pulling the plug.
So it could still happen with another studio, or the two sides could get back together and move forward, but it’s not looking good.
And this should have been foreseen.
‘Moneyball’ isn’t going to appeal to your average OMG-Brad-Pitt movie fan, unless you sex it up. But by doing so, you ruin what was so special about the book in the first place.