'Moneyball' can't find a place in Hollywood's lineup

At a time when expensive adult dramas keep striking out at the box office, it appears not even Brad Pitt and director Steven Soderbergh can entice a Hollywood studio to spend about $57 million on a baseball movie.

Pitt and Soderbergh, who were given a short window to set up their adaptation of the 2003 bestselling book "Moneyball" at a rival studio after Sony Pictures unexpectedly killed the project just three days before production was to begin today, have been turned down by Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, which shared concerns about the film's high budget and limited commercial appeal.

Sony movie chief Amy Pascal had given them the weekend to try and set the movie up at the two studios where they have the closest ties. Pitt's production company is based at Paramount, and the actor and Soderbergh have made the "Ocean's 11" movies at Warner.

On Friday, as first reported by industry trade paper Daily Variety, Sony's Pascal pulled the plug on the production after Soderbergh turned in a rewrite of the script by Steve Zaillian that she found unacceptable, according to people close to the situation. A person informed about the matter said that Pascal had liked Zaillian's adaptation of Michael Lewis' book about Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, but when Soderbergh's rewrite came in last Wednesday, she was surprised that there were "substantial changes."

Pascal met with Soderbergh in her Culver City office to see if he was willing to revise his take, but the two couldn't agree on a vision for the film. They also disagreed over Soderbergh's plan to shoot the film in a more improvisational documentary style, the person said.

She then made a last-minute decision to scrap the production, shocking those who were about to start shooting, said one individual involved in the project.

By Monday, Paramount and Warner Bros. had already decided to pass. Similarly budgeted dramas aimed at adults, such as "State of Play," "Duplicity" and "The International," have all fared poorly at the box office this year. "Moneyball" has the added burden of being about baseball, which would not only limit its appeal among women, but also overseas audiences. International receipts from theatrical, television and DVD sales typically account for more than half of a film's total sales.

As studios continue to tighten their belts, those added up to more than enough reasons to flash a red light.

"In light of the economic climate, Warner and Paramount said they weren't going to make the movie," said Pitt's manager, Cynthia Pett-Dante. She added that Pitt "totally supports Steven all the way" in his vision for the movie.

Soderbergh's manager, Michael Sugar, declined comment on behalf of the director.

One executive who had considered bringing the project to his studio said the movie would have had to gross more than $100 million at the domestic box office just to break even.

Sony is still weighing its options, which now appear limited to either convincing Soderbergh to alter his vision, proceeding with another director, or putting the entire project on the disabled list.

Either way, the studio will be on the hook for the nearly $10 million it has already spent on preproduction and screenplay development.

-- Claudia Eller, Ben Fritz and John Horn

Photos: Brad Pitt. Credit: Koichi Kamoshida, Getty Images. Steven Soderbergh. Credit: Peter Foley, European Pressphoto Agency.

Comments

[Ben Fritz?]

Ben Fritz? Weren't you a character in Moneyball?

[Mr.Haney]

OK,here's my $57 million dollar question.Why on earth does it cost $57 million dollar's to make a movie "ABOUT BASEBALL"?!?!!!!! Sony chief,Amy Pascal, seem's to have taken a bite out of a reality sandwich.We have cut back going out to movie's,dinner concert's due to the uncertainty in the economy.We went to what I thought would be a fairly popular kid's movie last week,there were only about a dozen people in the theatre!I suggest Hollywood do what the rest of us are doing,make some serious cut's.From highly paid actor's writer's ect. to cutting energy cost's in your facilitie's.If you don't the movie theatre's will be abandon like the the local car dealership's.My motto this past year has been,"PANIC EARLY,AVOID THE RUSH!"

[HollywoodInsider]

Pitt and Soderbergh should independently produce the movie with whoever owns the rights to the book "Moneyball". This is a money maker and the studios and just silly.. This should be an easy decision. Pitt and Soderbergh should move forward without the studios if they can. This ultimately could be a great Hollywood story with all the big studios backing out, assuming Pitt and Soderbergh quickly find a way to make the film.. Sometimes the arrogance of studios can interfere with what is actually real in Hollywood; TALENT (aka Pitt and Soderbergh). I see a lot of potential in this film and almost pity the studios for being so blind. People succeed in taking some small risks and being innovative.

[Ben Fritz of the LA Times]

Actually that's the other Ben Fritz. My arch-nemesis on Google. Damn him!

[Eric Walker]

One: $57 million for a film with a huge star and famed director is "expensive"? Whatever have you been smoking? It's about half the normal budget. And in 15 years, Pitt has made exactly two movies that grossed under $100 million.

Ah: "being about baseball, which would . . . limit its appeal among women" tells me for sure what you are smoking.

Naughty, naughty . . . .

[Mary C.]

"Moneyball" would work on HBO or Showtime as a very low-budget production with someone other than Brad Pitt as star (huge salary). That's about the market for it. It's not only about baseball, but it's "inside baseball." Not many people would be into a story about a baseball GM, let alone go to a movie theater to watch it. On-field heroics (The Natural), comedy (League of Their Own, Major League), or pathos (Field of Dreams) can find middling success at the box office and DVD sales; this one doesn't have that appeal. It's more like Arli$s, hence the cable potential at best.

[Werner Stein, Berlin Germany]

Hey Eric Walker, Burn after Reading, Jessy James, Babel, here are three films that didn't make the 100 Mill mark. and the WWII Tarantino film isn't out yet...

Baseball Films never ever work outside the US. (maybe Cuba?)

57 Mill is just too high a budget. It's all about math, Amy Pascal will rather write off the 10 Mil developing money - and she is right.

And if, just if, Soderberg and Pitt believe in the film, they could pay it out of the Oceans 11,12,and 13 returns in no time. Then the flick would only cost a moderate 25 Mill.

Cheers

[Mary C.]

It's a cable movie at best. Big-screen movies about baseball can be moderately successful, but I don't think an "inside baseball" movie about a team general manager (especially for the Oakland A's, not exactly the New York Yankees) would appeal to even a large segment of male fans. Baseball does have human interest angles and is not unappealing to women (the fan base has a large plurality of females, it's a family type of game). But this is not "Field of Dreams" or "Major League" or "The Rookie." The studio was wrong to take on this project at that budget to begin with. It belongs on HBO or Showtime with a small budget and cable TV-type stars.

[Jamesvic]

I am an A's fan and I still wouldn't go see this movie. This whole project was a head-scratcher from the very beginning. The book is all about following obscure statistics, the results of which are less than steller.

The A's have never won utilizing the method that Billy Beane follows and I wonder where the resolution comes? The GM followed a different path that led to an underacheiving playoff team... where is the story/movie there?

[dms]

Hey folks. It's sony's money. It is up to them to make the business decision about what makes sense.

To EW. Your assertion that Brad has made all $100 million grossing movies, except two. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Among Brad's films of the past 15 years are the following:

Burn After Reading: 60.3
Jesse James: 3.9
Babel: 34.3
Sinbad (voice): 26
Confessions Dangerous Minds: 16
Full Frontal: 2.5
Spy Game: 62.3
The Mexican: 66.8
Snatch: 30.3
Fight Club: 37
Meet Joe Black: 44
Seven Years Tibet: 37.9
Devil's Own: 42.8
Sleepers: 53.3
12 Monkeys: 57.1
Legends of the Fall: 66.6

What people don't realize is that Hollywood is not a charity. It is a business and the people who run these businesses have to make decisions that they think will be profitable. It is not easy to pull the plug on a movie this late in the game. You risk alienating stars (sony just wrapped a star vehicle for sony, "salt"), directors, writers, agents. It's not an easy decision. So the vision and the script must not have seemed very commercial. Amy's been in her position for a long, long time for a reason. I would trust her judgement here.

And I would also recommend that people look at the facts before posting and spreading misinformation.

[Craig - Internet marketing guy]

We are probably better off. I cna't imagine how this amazing book about stats and averages would translate into a movie.

[hopekate]

The real story isn't a story, kind of like "where's the beef?" and really, what happened to the great american pasttime, has it really been reduced to Bill Jame's haughty statistical erudition? Hope not.