Tom McCarthy to Pen Disney Sports Drama ‘Million Dollar Arm’

This is great news. Per THR:

Walt Disney Pictures has set indie darling Tom McCarthy to write Million Dollar Arm, based on the inspirational story of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein discovered professional pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel through his Indian reality show.

Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray’s Mayhem Pictures are producing alongside Joe Roth.

Million Dollar Arm underscores a pledge by Disney chair Rich Ross and president of production Sean Bailey to round out their slate with smaller films, similar to past Disney titles Secretariat and The Rookie, also produced by Mayhem.

So where did they come up with this high-concept, character driven piece:

Bernstein got the idea for the reality show one night while watching a televised cricket game from India. He realized that the throwing motion employed in cricket wasn’t that different from American pro baseball.

Reality show Million Dollar Arm launched in India in 2008. More than 40,000 contestants auditioned, including Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, who emerged as the two finalists.

Bernstein brought Singh and Patel to the U.S., using action films and rap songs to facilitate their English. He also taught them the mechanics of baseball.

The efforts paid off. Patel and Singh became the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts when joining the Pittsburgh Pirates.

How great is that? You’ve got the FOOW (Fish-Out-Of-Water) dynamic: Indians in the U.S.. Underdog story. Sports angle. And echoes of Slumdog Millionaire down to the word “million” in the story’s title. Hell, if they release the movie in India alone, you figure it could make back its budget.

But mostly I’m happy because it’s Tom McCarthy writing the project. I could see this butchered six ways to Sunday, the studio going for broad humor and cheap laughs. McCarthy is so good with character, it will be interesting to see what he does this type of more mainstream movie. I’ll definitely be tracking progress on Million Dollar Arm.

Takeaway: Movie ideas are everywhere… even Indian reality TV shows! You just have to look for them.

For more of the article, go here.