‘Moneyball’ Seeks New Director

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Marc Webb ("500 Days of Summer") and Bennet Miller ("Capote") are the two front-runners to replace the outgoing Steven Soderbergh on the "Moneyball" project at Sony Pictures reports Risky Biz Blog.

Brad Pitt remains attached to star in the biopic on baseball innovator Billy Beane and the unconventional story of the modern-day Oakland A’s. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was brought in on this summer to perform a re-write of the adaptation of Michael Lewis’ best-selling book.

Several months after Sorkin came aboard the project, and slightly longer since the plug was pulled on Steven Soderbergh just before the start of production, the underdog baseball picture is well into its next stage of production.

Several directors have met with star Brad Pitt, studio execs and producers over the past few weeks. And while the studio has not formally made any offers, a number of names have surfaced, notably including that of the Oscar nominee Miller and Webb. No direct offers have been made to either though.

I think both Webb and Miller would be suitable candidates for the project, but I actually think Soderbergh could have done something special with this film. After “The Informant!,” he proved he could take an unconventional type of story and turn it into something original and entertaining. I had those same hopes for his adaptation of “Moneyball.” Without Soderbergh at the helm, the project still has a great deal of potential, especially with Pitt in the starring role.

There have been enough hiccups on “Moneyball” that nothing is a sure thing. But with a number of conferences now taking place, it may not be long before the film is pushed ahead into full production.

The film is scheduled to be released in 2011.