RonShelton Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Billy Bob Boxes for 'Bull Durham's Ron Shelton
Filed under: Drama », Sports », Casting », Deals », Scripts »
When one F.X. Toole adaptation grabs a bunch of Oscars, what will happen to the next one?Million Dollar Baby -- winner of Best Movie, Director, Supporting Actor, and Lead Actress -- was adapted from Toole's short story collection Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Pound for Pound is getting the big-screen indie treatment with the starring help of Billy Bob Thornton.
A full -- but unfinished -- posthumous novel this time around, Pound follows Dan Cooley, an ex-boxing contender who has outlived both his wife and children, and focuses on his grandson, who then gets killed. "As Cooley vacillates between booze-fueled suicidal thoughts and fantasies of homicidal vengeance, Hispanic teenager Eduardo 'Chicky' Garza y Duffy begins his troubled ascent in the amateur boxing world." In classic sports movie form, they will be able to offer each other redemption.
It's going to be quite interesting watching Billy Bob play an ex-boxer, but he's definitely the right fit for an aging, bitter, and boozy dude. As for the film, it's going to be written and directed by Ron Shelton, the man behind Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, and Play it to the Bone. Could this be a return to Bull Durham form? That film was his first directorial stint, and grabbed the filmmaker his only Oscar nod.
Barry Bonds Gets an Indictment and His Own HBO Film
Filed under: Drama », Sports », Casting », Celebrities and Controversy », Scripts », Home Entertainment », HBO Films »
Variety reports that HBO Films will bring the Barry Bonds story to their network. San Francisco Giant Bonds recently broke baseball's all-time home run record, "allegedly" lied to a jury under oath concerning his use of performance-enhancing drugs, and was indicted on federal charges. Say it ain't so, Barry! HBO has purchased the rights to Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports, which is said to paint Bonds as "a gifted player who made a Faustian bargain to increase his power." Ron Shelton will adapt the book with John Norville (co-writer of Shelton's Tin Cup) after the WGA Strike. Shelton is also set to direct.Ron Shelton is a terrific writer/director of sports movies when he's on, but he doesn't have the greatest batting average. Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, and Tin Cup are classics of baseball, basketball, and golf film, respectively. But Cobb? Play it to the Bone? The dreadful Hollywood Homicide (not a sports film I realize, but so bad I had to mention it)? Hopefully the Bonds film will be one of his "hits." I always find it interesting when movies are made about figures who are not only still alive, but still going strong. It just seems like it'd be...awkward for all involved. Who do you think should play Barry Bonds? Shelton regular Kevin Costner? I kid, I kid. Do you think they should get a newcomer or go for a star? And which star?
Quickhits: A Director for Dallas, Sports for Shelton, Punk Rock for the Animals
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Drama », Sports », Casting », Deals », 20th Century Fox », Family Films », Dreamworks », Remakes and Sequels »
Oh boy, odds and ends!- Remember what I said Fox acting like Dallas was going to get right back on the horse, despite losing its director and being quietly removed from their release schedule? Well, here's the proof: they're in the final stages of roping Bend It Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha into taking over the production.
- No one is going to believe this, but Ron
Shelton has sold a spec script about
sports. I know, I know - it's shocking. I should have asked if you were sitting down, sorry. This one is called
Our Lady of the Ballpark, and is about "a slumping, egotistical New York Yankees pitcher who tries to
resurrect his career in the comically corrupt Mexican Baseball League." Surely Kevin Costner's phone is already ringing.
- Hey, readers with kids! You know that book, Punk Farm, that the little ones are all into? The one about "a group of farm animals who have one goal in mind -- to become an underground rock band," and end up performing at -- wait for it -- Livestock? Well, you can look forward to it staying in your life for a long, long time, because Dreamworks is makin' the movie! (Are those tears of joy or sorrow? It's hard to tell from here.) The company has already hired one of Ice Age: The Meltdown's myriad writers to pen the screenplay, but there's no word yet on who will direct.
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
Peter Jackson Says Spielberg's 'Tintin' is Done Filming, but...
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
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