Comments on: Sony Pulls Plug on Pitt/Soderbergh Project, Moneyball

By: Brad Pitt (Finally) Speaks About Moneyball - Screen Rant

Brad Pitt (Finally) Speaks About Moneyball - Screen Rant — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:57:01 +0000

[...] Oscar winner Steve Zaillian spun a script from Michael Lewis’s book about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget. Sony picked it up, Brad Pitt and Steven Soderbergh hopped on board, Soderbergh retooled the script into something more along the lines of a documentary with “if it didn’t happen in real life, it won’t happen on the big screen” running through its veins. Sony bucked, the head of Sony, Amy Pascal pulled the plug the morning of the first day of shooting. There. Now we’re all on the same page (for more details, go here). [...]

By: Update on the Sony/Soderbergh/Pitt ‘Moneyball’ Fiasco - Screen Rant

Update on the Sony/Soderbergh/Pitt ‘Moneyball’ Fiasco - Screen Rant — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:46:23 +0000

[...] week started off with the crazy news that Sony Chairman Amy Pascal had pulled the plug on Moneyball, Steven Soderbergh’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’s book about Oakland A’s general [...]

By: manowar

manowar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:38:45 +0000

I’m pretty sure the actors are going to sue for some payola.

By: SK-47

SK-47 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:42:12 +0000

I am sure Brad Pitt will stay onboard, he and Soderbergh must have a good relationship after the Ocean films. Otherwise, its back to Clooney…hmm, maybe Clooney can self finance this film to be made and shop it around?

By: Darren seeley

Darren seeley — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:03:13 +0000

I’m sure Ms Pascal had a really good reason. But economics, I think, isn’t one of them. The director is Steven Soderbergh- a director who usually shuns union, turns away actors who want a hundred perks, does 20 or more setups a day, and always makes good films. I don’t think it is a youth thing either. While some of our youth might indeed have been born the same year Steven Soderbergh made his first film (sex,lies and videotape) I’ll play a slight optimist and conclude that this generation knows of the Oceans films. Maybe that’s a stretch…

But Steven Soderbergh is a great director who keeps costs down. It would have been a modest budgeted film at worst. So I’m siding with Ms. Pascal here. It probably wasn’t the script that the studio signed off on. Yes, she’s going to catch heat for it, but tough choices are made all the time. Could Steven Soderbergh find alternative means to make the film? Or another studio (like WB?) I wouldn’t doubt it. The only question is how long could he keep Brad Pitt onboard.

By: anakin

anakin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:14:27 +0000

Reelwriter:
>I guess Hollywood has forgotten that the ticketfunders are all usually over 15.

As much as I agree with you that movies nowadays are too much geared towards kids it’s also true, unfortunately, that this is the most profitable key demographic. After all, there’s a reason why most hollywood films are either targeted to under 15-year-olds or are made to be “for all ages”.

By: Eric Walker

Eric Walker — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:12:41 +0000

First, though I’m not privy to the script, the movie certainly doesn’t need to be a quasi-documentary. Beane, as an amateur ballplayer, was very, very highly ranked–touted as the next superstar. When he hit pro ball, he failed, and badly. But instead of turning his back on the game, as most would have done, he turned around and diffidently knocked on the back door, so to speak, entering management at about the lowest level possible. From there, by diligence and character, he worked his way up to being one of the most influential men in the game. I daresay that that would make a story line that works relatively independent of the actual sport involved.

Second, I agree that with Pitt and Soderbergh involved, and considering the last-minute character of Pascal’s move, it indeed was political and not economic. Which is a great shame.

Let us hope that the movie can somehow be rescued, and soon.

By: Heath

Heath — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:24:22 +0000

I heard Sony was the only studio with money for development and are eager to greenlight films… Oh, well…

heath

By: Reelwriter

Reelwriter — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:17:20 +0000

As a screenwriter, it’s distressing for me to hear that studios are cutting back on any type of production. In times of distress, the public historically will ramp up their movie attendance, paying any price for escape. Blockbuster movies are no longer about art, they’re about money. Moviemaking is a business, no matter how creative the writers and actors have to be to get it to the public. Removing this movie is not about returns, it’s political. Hollywood executives could easily be led around by their ego and – having much power – create havoc if they are not happy. Obviously, Moneyball would have had at least a modicum of success because it had big names attached to it — if not on the big screen, then it would have been a good rental. This is political, not creative, nor money motivated. When I look at the list of movies coming out today, I’d like to see something grown up, not The Lone Ranger, The Flash, The Hobbit, Ninja Assisin, Robin Hood, Robocop, Spider-Man 4, Star Trek, Thor, GI Joe, Green Hornet, Superman, Transformers 2, Green Lantern, Wolvervine, Wonder Woman, X-Men. Are they kidding? I guess Hollywood has forgotten that the ticketfunders are all usually over 15 — and, as they say if Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy! Please! At least give grown folks something to watch while we’re waiting for our kids to be special effected and filled up with 10-times-overpriced snacks!

By: EnglishGavz

EnglishGavz — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:50:30 +0000

Hollywood: If it’s not a sequel. If it’s not a remake. If there’s no brand recognition. We don’t want it.