For a while, it looked like fact-based baseball drama Moneyball might not get made, with Steven Soderbergh attached at one point before script issues saw him jump ship, leaving star Brad Pitt and producer Scott Rudin to keep things in play. But now the film has been finished with Bennett Miller directing, the official, entertainment TV host blather-free trailer has arrived and you can watch it below.
Based on Michael Lewis’ book, Moneyball tracks the changing fortunes of Billy Beane (Pitt), manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team. With the club’s finances at an all-time low, Beane struggles to assemble any sort of winning roster, since he can’t afford the best players. But then he gets a little help from young office type Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), who introduces him to a new method for picking possible recruits – a computer analysis program running a system called Sabermetrics, which uses empirical evidence instead of the conventional wisdom.
Naturally, Beane has some issues convincing his bosses and colleagues that his new strategy can work, but then he starts delivering results…
With Robin Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt and Kathryn Morris also among the cast, Moneyball will be out on November 4.