Screen Rant » moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game

Steven Soderbergh Prepares To ‘Knockout’ Audiences

Ross Miller — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:49:49 +0000

After all the drama surrounding Moneyball earlier this year, Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s trilogy, The Informant!) has shrugged his shoulders of it and is moving onto another project, the bluntly titled Knockout. The film is a spy thriller that will see the true acting debut of female MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter, Gina Carano, and is described as being closer to La Femma Nakita and Kill Bill than Million Dollar Baby.

Knockout will be directed by Soderbergh, produced by Gregory Jacobs (Soderbergh’s long-time collaborator) written by Lem Dobbs (who’s written a couple of Soderbergh movies before) and financed/produced by Relativity Media.

Carano’s big-screen debut will see her playing, “a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes.” Soderbergh considers it an action film in the style of James Bond, as opposed to being set in and around the (fighting) ring like the aforementioned Million Dollar Baby.

Carano is considered the face of women’s mixed martial arts fighting, and has a record of seven wins to one loss (the latter being last month). Along with fighting in MMA, she’s also appeared as the Gladiator “Crush” on American Gladiators, as well as starring in a couple of documentaries, appearing in some cut scenes in Command & Conquer 3, and a small role in the Michael Jai White action film, Blood and Bone. So we know she has the kick-ass credentials for a film like Knockout. Added to that, Carano is… well, let’s just say she’s got the looks, too.

This isn’t the first time Soderbergh has directed a film starring a young woman who has never truly acted before (Carano’s not totally inexperienced, but has never appeared in a leading role). Soderbergh’s indie film The Girlfriend Experience (see my review) starred adult-film star Sasha Grey in the lead role (not that good of a movie IMO, but Grey was great in it) – so maybe if Carano does well in her Knockout role, then Soderbergh can add another thing to his lists of filmmaking talents.

What do you think of Soderbergh’s next project? Do you think Carano will do well in her first proper starring role?

Knockout is planned by Soderbergh to start production in late January next year, with shooting hoped to take place around the world in locations like Turkey, Ireland and the U.S. No release date has been set yet, but domestic distribution is expected to be locked very soon.

Sources: Variety and ThePlaylist

Movie News Wrap Up: February 8th, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:33:29 +0000

Yes, we’re a day late this week – blame it on flakey internet connections – moving on…

This week:

Brad Pitt plays Ball; Mangold looks for thrills; does Nottingham have its Marian? Mickey Rourke attaches himself to St Vincent – with an old friend.

Box Office

Audiences were really into He’s Just Not That Into You. The all-star movie featuring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson grossed an impressive $27.5 million showing that female powered movies keep making money at the box office.

Liam Nesson’s Taken continues to impress with a slight 18% drop with a gross of $20 million.

Coraline grossed a solid $16 million showing that stop motion animation isn’t dead. The really good news is that The Pink Panther 2 crashed and burned managing a poor $12 million weekend. Considering that the first movie made $10 million more on its debut – it looks like we may have seen the last of Steve Martin in a trench coat.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop showed incredible legs arresting another $11 million for a $97 million total. It looks like the makers of Push will be kissing franchise hopes goodbye following a pretty low $10 million gross. DVD and foreign money is the films only hope.

Slumdog Millionaire continues to do well with more awards at the BAFTA’s and a gross of $77 million it looks like this little film is a success on all levels.

Movie News

1. Brad Pitt will re-team with his Ocean’s director Steven Soderbergh for Moneyball. The film which is based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game followsi:

“Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who used a sophisticated computer analysis system to piece together a team that regularly contended for the World Series despite a payroll dramatically lower than such big-market rivals as the New York Yankees.”

The film will replace Cleo as Soderbergh’s next film following Hugh Jackman’s drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Cleo will now shoot next year.

Source: Variety

2. James Mangold is attached to direct an untitled thriller for Bold Films.

According to Variety:

“The script, which is being penned by Sasha Jenson and Casey La Scala is based on the true story of a pair of New Orleans lawyer brothers who took on a multinational oil company and its heavyweight legal teams to rep the rights of the families of an oil rig that sank in a typhoon. “

It all sounds a bit generic.

Source: Variety

3. It looks like Cate Blanchett will be romanced by Russell Crowe in Nottingham. Mark Strong, who signed up to play Sir Guy of Gisbourne told The Telegraph:

“I think Cate Blanchett is set to take the Maid Marian part. She is a wonderful actress and it would make it a much classier film if she was in it.”

Take that Sienna Miller!

Seems like a done deal.

Source: Telegraph

4. Mickey Rourke just gets busier and busier. The comeback kid who just nabbed a BAFTA will rejoining his Johnny Handsome director Walter Hill for St. Vincent. According to Variety:

“St. Vincent, scripted by Cameron Young, centers on a hit man returning to his former New York City neighborhood to finish off the botched killing of an informant. He’s then forced to masquerade as a priest and finds himself taking the confessions of his target.”

Hill used to be a director to watch and Rourke is on a comeback trail that seems to be very long – with Iron Man 2 (something he said he was doing last night at the BAFTA’s) and a script that he’s been working on for 18 years on the horizon along with Stallone’s The Expendables it can be said that Rourke is truly back.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: October 19, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:33:44 +0000

Sunday again and that means that it is time for the Weekend Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

We see who is top of the box office; Kevin Smith ups his budget and goes into space; Brad Pitt goes on an Odyssey and plays an Unfair Game; Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci do Life and Ronin zooms to the small screen.

Box Office

Marky Mark Wahlberg is the box office champion with Max Payne. The film should manage about $20 million over the weekend giving 20^th Century Fox their first solid hit in months.

Oliver Stone’s W bucked the political movie trend by making a solid bit of cash. Grossing around $12MM for the weekend the film should be a modest hit. Considering the current political overkill going on in the press this is a considerable coup.

The Secret Life of Bees had a modest opening too, and should match the gross of the Bush film.

Meanwhile Sex Drive stiffed it on its opening with around $3.5 million. Could it be the death of the teen sex comedy?

Beverly Hills Chihuahua is showing legs with about another $11 million barked up by Monday morning. Meanwhile Ridley Scott’s costly Body Of Lies should manage another $7 million, the same as Eagle Eye.

Movie News

1. Kevin Smith will write direct and no doubt cameo in a $50 million space comedy. The Weinstein Company has read part of the script and seems interested in forking out the cash.

Smith has this to say:

“The moment someone steps out of the spaceship, it’s going to cost a little more.
All the relationships in the flicks I’ve done have been done before, have been either a guy falling for a girl or two dudes hanging out in a ‘bromantic’ comedy. I wanted to explore a father and son.”

The film won’t be made until after Smith’s Red State.

Expect at least one Uranus joke.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. Speaking of space – Brad Pitt will star in a futuristic retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey which will be directed by George Miller.

Pitt previously starred in an adaptation of Homer’s The Iliad, which became Troy.

Expect no Uranus jokes in this one.

Source: Variety

3. Speaking of Brad Pitt – the star may appear in Steven Zaillian’s adaptation of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. The film is set to be directed by David Frankel. According to Variety:

“The Book’s subject is Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who assembled a contending baseball club on a shoestring budget by employing a sophisticated computer-based analysis to draft players.”

Source: Variety

4. Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci will star in After. Life (yes, the “.” supposed to be there).

Neeson will play a funeral director who is contacted by a woman (Ricci) who is caught between life and death (much like her career following Speed Racer). Agnieszka Vosloo will helm the film.

Source: Variety

5. The 1998 Robert De Niro film Ronin is coming to the small screen. The film which will likely be shot in Europe (like the film) will be co-financed by the BBC. The original film was helmed by John Frankenheimer and it played a bit like a middle-age Mission: Impossible, so a show should (or could) be interesting.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

That’s it for this week – see you at the movies!