Aaron Sorkin, the man (or myth?) behind The West Wing and A Few Good Men, is set to redraft the script for stalled sports drama Moneyball, which was originally set to be directed by Steven Soderbergh and produced by Brad Pitt before the plug was pulled last month.
Based on Michael Lewis' memoir Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game, the film focuses on Oakland A's baseball team general manager Billy Beane, and his use of complex statistical data to get the best possible team for the smallest possible price.
The project's been kicking around Hollywood for years, and looked set to go a couple of times previously. Steve "American Gangster" Zaillian was brought in to write the script four years ago, with David "Devil Wears Prada" Frankel set to direct and Brad Pitt to star. Then Steven Soderbergh prepared to take both writing and directing duties, only for the studio to reject his take on the script and pull the plug just days before production was due to start.
With the news that Sorkin's rewriting the Zaillian draft of the script it's clear that this is still a go project, albeit without Soderbergh's involvement. Pitt's still attached to star, but there will likely be a new director after Sorkin turns in the script next month. Watch this space for more.