The NFL and ‘Bull Durham’ Writer Team-Up for Football Movie
Sure, the NFL rakes in up to $9 billion annually going about the business – er, game – of football, but what it really wants to do is be in the movies. News to us, but it’s apparently true, as the league is teaming up with writer Ron Shelton to bring an NFL drama to the big screen.
According to Variety, Shelton, best known for classic sports films like ‘Bull Durham’ and ’White Men Can’t Jump, ‘ has penned a screenplay called ‘Week 14′, which former ‘Sports Night’ and “24′ producer Tony Krantz plans to direct. Talent agency CAA is preparing to shop the project to studios in the coming weeks, with an eye toward starting production early next year.
The pigskin-centric tale is being compared to ‘Crash,’ and will evidently “chronicle the last three weeks of the NFL’s regular season as seen through the eyes of fictional players, coaches and their significant others.”
Unsurprisingly, the project is being described as “family friendly,” and will angle for a PG-13 rating. As Variety notes, the league is supremely protective of its brand (that’s why you saw the Gotham Rogues and not the Pittsburgh Steelers in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’), so it’s safe to say that ‘Week 14′ won’t be featuring any curse words, labor disputes, off-the-field shenanigans, illegal hits, drug use or Rex Ryan.