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Big League Stew

Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:30 am EDT

Can anyone spare $50 million so Brad Pitt can film 'Moneyball'?

By David Brown

Hours before they were to start filming "Moneyball," Hollywood big shots hit the "pause" button.

Director Steven Soderbergh and star Brad Pitt were to give Michael Lewis' best seller about the building of Billy Beane's Oakland Athletics empire the silver screen treatment, until a Sony Pictures exec got hold of the most recent script revision.

Green light? Red light.

What could the problem be? I'm guessing someone took out the fictional car chase Beane and rival general manager Ken Williams had on the way to the 2002 draft, or maybe they erased the part where Nick Swisher(notes) assisted the bomb squad in diffusing defusing explosives set to go off if his on-base percentage dipped below .340.

"Dude, they almost blew up Ken Macha," Swish's dialogue was said to be.

Something was amiss, so Sony put on the brakes, giving Soderbergh and Pitt ("Ocean's 11, 12, 13") until today to find different financing. A report in Variety said Soderbergh and Pitt were calling other studios over the weekend to see if anyone would back the project. If they could find the right sucker investor in time, it's lights, camera, action as scheduled baby!

Or else, the project was going back on the shelf until Sony again liked the script.

(More explosions!)

So, if you're one of the folks who answered this ad in Craig's List seeking extras in Phoenix for the film, don't be surprised if you show up to the ballpark (presumably the location shooting is at Chase Field) Monday morning and Pitt's not there.

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94 Comments

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  1. Holmes
    1. Posted by Holmes Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:42 am EDT

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    Can't Brad Pitt give Brad Pitt $50 million?
  2. This is Dave, Hello There!
    2. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:45 pm EDT

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    Think about how much money $50 million is, Holmes, c'mon.
    -Watson
  3. rocky63215
    3. Posted by rocky63215 Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:49 pm EDT

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    Why is there a picture of Derek Jeter? Are you a moron? Jeter and the Yankees are the antithesis to Moneyball! Come on you retard you can find a better picture that fits Moneyball.
  4. This is Dave, Hello There!
    4. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:28 pm EDT

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    OK, Rocky. The photo doesn't have a caption to help you out, granted. I will help: You look at it as a picture of Derek Jeter. I look at it as a picture of BRAD PITT (look all the way to right) at a BASEBALL GAME. Sitting near Mr. Pitt, FILMMAKER SPIKE LEE.
    Even taking into account how the Yankees are the antithesis of Moneyball. Well, ironically, the movie needs $50 MILLION to be made. What better place than NEW YORK, the ANTITHESIS of Moneyball, to find some FINANCIAL BACKING.
    AM I CLEARING THIS UP YET?
  5. richard nixon
    5. Posted by richard nixon Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:33 pm EDT

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    the word you want to use is "defuse", not "diffuse." "defuse" refers to disabling an explosive, while "diffuse" generally means to scatter.
  6. ricardo m
    6. Posted by ricardo m Mon Jun 22, 2009 1:57 pm EDT

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    Rocky, are you going to apologize? Who's the moron now?
  7. bigboo's bro
    7. Posted by bigboo's bro Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:01 pm EDT

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    Maybe someone realized that but-for 'roids, the As would have been toilet drinkers. Maybe the title should be "Moneyball: how a syringe leveled the playing field and helped destroy baseball"?
  8. J-D
    8. Posted by J-D Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:01 pm EDT

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    I'm not surprised Sony didn't like the script. I mean, how can you make a movie out of a book with no car chases or huge explosions or terrorist plots or shootouts or serial killers or comic book characters? Stupid teenaged boys (the studios' target audience - many of whom post here) won't sit still for a movie like this.
  9. This is Dave, Hello There!
    9. Posted by This is Dave, Hello There! Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:14 pm EDT

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    Thanks, Nixon. I'll clean that up presently.
  10. Phoenix
    10. Posted by Phoenix Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:39 pm EDT

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    I am confused...what Billy Beane "empire" are they talking about? Did the A's win a couple championships under him? Billy Beane is grossly over-rated. The West is a relatively weak division and playing over 500 ball puts you in the chase through Sept.
  11. onemancat
    11. Posted by onemancat Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    I think Sony looked at how some of Beane's latest moves have (not) worked out and concluded that the story has not a Hollywood ending, but a bottom-of-the-AL-West-for-the-next-5-years kind of ending. Could they just use Matt Holliday to play Billy Beane, it's not like he's doing much else this year. And, yeah, Rocky, you need to apologize--you're the retard here.
  12. rockfan_31
    12. Posted by rockfan_31 Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:27 pm EDT

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    Only if Angelina has a nude scene ...
  13. E = MC Hammer
    13. Posted by E = MC Hammer Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:45 pm EDT

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    I'd be interested to see the cast of this movie. Any ideas on who should play Eric Chavez?
  14. clevelandhatersrgay
    14. Posted by clevelandhatersrgay Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:48 pm EDT

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    I wouln't pay $.05 to see that egotistical douche- bag in any movie!
  15. wkl
    15. Posted by wkl Mon Jun 22, 2009 3:56 pm EDT

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    i'm sure he has it.
  16. E = MC Hammer
    16. Posted by E = MC Hammer Mon Jun 22, 2009 4:02 pm EDT

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    Brad won't pay that from his own pocket because the movie won't make any money. I like the A's but come on, no one really gives a damn about them, especially moviegoers.
  17. Mallard Davis
    17. Posted by Mallard Davis Mon Jun 22, 2009 4:04 pm EDT

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    Yeah, lots of nude scenes, that' the ticket! Moneyball has never won a World Series or even an American League Pennant. As an A's fan since 1968, I have grown tired of Beaneball, want the A's to get a new GM, and won't see the movie
  18. Dan E
    18. Posted by Dan E Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:16 pm EDT

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    The problem with making a Moneyball movie is that there is no Hollywood ending. The A's never even make it to the World Series under Beane's leadership. Rather, he published the book and gives a blueprint to all the other GMs in the league about how to evaluate talent. This movie would be a better fit for a French studio than for Sony. In the end the haughty American ends up a failure. The whole franchise could just drive off the cliff.
  19. Mallard Davis
    19. Posted by Mallard Davis Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:40 pm EDT

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    Here is a Hollywood ending for you. Jeremy Brown one of the main players in Moneyball spent six yeras primarily in the minors, never made a splash in the Show, and has retired. There is just is no reason to make a movie about this.
  20. Adrian Deez
    20. Posted by Adrian Deez Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:57 pm EDT

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    He can always sell a kid
  21. xxxODDSMAKERxxx
    21. Posted by xxxODDSMAKERxxx Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:58 pm EDT

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    Its Moneyball guys, they should only pay 10mil to make it then trade it to Miramax before it becomes a hit!!
  22. Corey
    22. Posted by Corey Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:11 pm EDT

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    a better movie would be the antithesis of moneyball "the yankees." I think people would rather watch what really went on when guys like a-rod, clemens, giambi, etc. were all in the same locker room with all the roids, egos, choking in the playoffs every year and not winning a world series, jeter's night life and all the ACTIONS with the female celebs, arod's jealousy of jeter's night life, George and his sons, etc.
  23. Vote Life
    23. Posted by Vote Life Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:18 pm EDT

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    Why can't B. Hussein give him the bail out? Oops, I mean money????
  24. Zane M
    24. Posted by Zane M Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:21 pm EDT

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    Can't they somehow find a way to get $50 Million of value by spending around $15-$25 Million instead?
  25. Xobai
    25. Posted by Xobai Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:27 pm EDT

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    "Its Moneyball guys, they should only pay 10mil to make it then trade it to Miramax before it becomes a hit!! "
    WINNER.
    There's no other way to put it... the Beane haters are morons who have no idea what's going on. Go listen to a Joe Morgan broadcast so he can tell you what you want to hear: that baseball's just fine as an old-boy network, statistics don't mean anything, and anybody outside the baseball social circle has nothing to offer.

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