Finding Forrester, a 2000 film starring Sean Connery, is being developed as a TV drama for NBC, with Stephen Curry attached as an executive producer through his Unanimous Media company.
In the original film, Connery portrayed a J.D. Salinger-like reclusive novelist who becomes a mentor and friend to a private school basketball star that shows great potential as a writer. Rob Brown played Jamal Wallace, the student who lifts his school’s basketball team to success while his writing improves, drawing suspicion from professors.
According to Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva, TV series will change the premise slightly, making the writer character a Black lesbian author whose literary career was ruined by a scandal. The student will be a 16-year-old homeless orphan whose basketball talent gains him admission into a prestigious boarding school and writing skills show enough potential to pique the interest of the reclusive author.
For its theatrical release 20 years ago, Finding Forrester grossed $80 million at the box office (including $51 million in the United States).
Also involved in the TV reboot is director Tim Story, the first Black director whose films have grossed $1 billion in box office revenue. Seven of his films debuted at No. 1 upon opening in theaters, including Barbershop and three movies that were successful enough to get sequels: Fantastic Four (2005), Ride Along, and Think Like a Man. Mostly recently, he made the 2019 Shaft reboot and the upcoming Tom and Jerry.
Unanimous Media’s involvement in the Finding Forrester project is part of the deal Curry’s production company signed with Sony Pictures to create TV, film, and digital content. Thus far, the partnership with Sony includes a sports agent movie titled Signing Day, with singer-songwriter John Legend also attached as a producer. Unanimous Media also produces the popular extreme mini-golf show Holey Moley, which will get a third season on ABC next summer.
Related: Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media partners with Audible to produce documentary and interview podcasts
[Deadline]
About Ian Casselberry
Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.