The story of former Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente is well-known – an all-time great baseball player tragically dies on New Year’s Eve while on a humanitarian mission. The game of baseball, and for that matter, the country, was absolutely devastated.
But there hasn’t been a definitive cinematic look at Clemente’s life, aside from Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories, released in 2013. But that lack of attention will end in the near future – Legendary Pictures has acquired the rights to Clemente’s life and the movie rights for a Clemente biography, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, written by David Maraniss.
Why should fans be excited by this? Legendary is the studio that released 42, the lauded Jackie Robinson biopic, in 2013. If they can do the same thing with Clemente as they did with Robinson, the results should be excellent.
We also know some names that will be involved with the film – Ben Silverman and Jay Weisleder will serve as producers, while Giselle Fernandez and Sandra Condito will be the executive producers. No actors have been cast yet.
Excited? You bet. If done properly, this will be incredible. Hell, even if it’s just “average”, it’ll be enjoyable. It’s hard to screw up the story of Clemente’s life, and I’m optimistic that this will be excellent.
[Variety]
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About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.