Soderbergh’s MONEYBALL Is a No Go
By Norm Schrager at June 21, 2009 | 4:13 pm | Print
Steven Soderbergh’s latest effort, Moneyball, based on Michael Lewis’ book about Oakland A’s baseball general manager Billy Beane and his reliance on science and stats, has been halted by Columbia head Amy Pascal (left). Shooting was scheduled to begin Monday, with Brad Pitt starring. If you were packing with 96 hours til start of production, don’t bother. Yikes.
Variety reports Pascal isn’t keen on the final draft delivered by Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York) and Soderbergh. Word is she felt it was too far from the spirit of the original script that got her full support. The film may have financing life elsewhere, but Monday’s first day at work is a no-go.
It’s no surprise that Soderbergh’s storytelling presentation was going to be unconventional, with actual ballplayers as actors and documentary interviews with Beane’s former Mets teammates dropped in throughout the film.
Variety points out that Columbia’s reason for dropping Moneyball has a familiar ring to it. Brad Pitt walked away from State of Play for the same issue — he felt the script had strayed too much for the original idea.
