Error: Columbia Drops “Moneyball”

Sadly, we may not get a chance to see Brad Pitt discuss the significance of win shares and VORP.

Variety reports that Columbia Pictures has put a stop to “Moneyball.” The film, an adaptation of the Michael Lewis book, was set to be directed by Steven Soderbergh, with Brad Pitt starring. Shooting was supposed to begin on Monday.

Word is that studio head Amy Pascal lost faith in the picture after reading the latest draft by Steven Zaillian. The book is nonfiction, basically a valentine to Oakland As general manager Billy Beane, and his use of statistics to build a winning team on a low-budget. Not exactly your everyday “arrogant rookie fails, learns a lesson, then triumphs” or “athlete overcomes adversity and triumphs” type of sports film narrative. Plus Soderbergh had an idiosyncratic plan for filming, including using animated characters, and interviews with retired real life ballplayers (David Justice, Scott Hatteberg, Mookie Wilson, Darryl Strawberry; Lenny Dykstra is also listed, but he’s got a world of legal problems to deal with). Apparently earlier drafts had been okay, but the latest one must have seemed too risky. The budget for the film was supposed to be over $50 million, and as Variety notes, baseball pics, even those with megastars like Pitt, don’t have a chance overseas, as baseball is a marginal sport in many countries.

The film is now in “limited turnaround.” Columbia could replace Soderbergh, but Pitt might not be thrilled. Another studio could also pick it up. Any delays, though, risk schedule problems that could result in actors, even Pitt dropping out.

I’m not a huge fan of the book “Moneyball”–not so much because of the book itself, but because of the mindless cult that’s built up around it, and the extreme overinterpretation too many people have gotten out of it (all stats all the time). But I thought Soderbergh at least sounded like he had an interesting approach, and I always like seeing a non-narrative, nonfiction book come to the screen. So I hope this one gets done somehow.