It might be a perfect storm: Ron Shelton, former minor league hopeful and writer/director for perhaps one of the greatest baseball movies of all time in Bull Durham; Ted Williams, perhaps the greatest hitter of all time; and Richard Ben Cramer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now: A Remembrance (as well as Joe Dimaggio: The Hero’s Life).
Fingers crossed that this Williams-inspired project gets done, since Shelton holds the movie rights.
According to this story by Mike Sielski on KDHNews, “Shelton is on his second draft of the script. Can he get a studio to understand the project as he does, to share his vision? ‘It has to be made for a price,’ he said. ‘But I think the kind of movie stars who might be attracted to each part could help get it made.'”
Suggestions on who would play the title role? Something tells me this is one baseball film that Kevin Costner might not be right, although I have no doubt he could play “cantankerous” — a word often used to describe Williams — pretty well. It would have to be someone physically and emotionally imposing. Maybe J.K. Simmons, who played Frank Perry, Costner’s manager in For Love of the Game? Can’t think of anyone who actually resembles Williams at that age.
Wish I’d known about all this when I had Shelton on for a Bookshelf Conversation.
is available on Amazon.com,
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