While Legendary Pictures might not yet have found the right person to play baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 42, the film about the most important events of his life, the company appears to close to locking in the man to play Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey: Harrison Ford.
Rickey sliced through the famous colour barrier in 1947 by deciding to hire Robinson, who had been a star of the Kansas City Chiefs but had been barred from the major leagues because of racism. Spotting that he had the will to overcome bigots in both the stands and the dugout, Rickey broke with tradition and brought him aboard.
Director Brian Helgeland has been looking for someone to play Rickey, with Robert Redford among those mentioned as likely candidates. Now, though, Ford has been offered the role. He’s in demand at the moment between this, Black Hats and Gavin Hood trying to snag him for Ender’s Game.
Helgeland has written the script for the movie, which is named after Robinson's jersey number, and Legendary Boss (a big Robinson fan) is busy developing it with the help of Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow. There’s no word on when it’ll start shooting.