Mandalay Sports Media has "acquired the feature life rights to tell the story" of Canadiens LW JOHN SCOTT, a journeyman player who was voted into this year's NHL All-Star Game through an Internet campaign, according to Mike Fleming Jr. of DEADLINE.com. Detroit Free Press columnist MITCH ALBOM has "signed to write the script for a film that will be produced" by MSM's MIKE TOLLIN and JON WEINBACH, with Albom exec producing. Albom first "covered Scott's story when it was an unresolved dilemma, as the NHL pressured the player to withdraw" from the game. Albom said, "When I first spoke to John, I didn’t know the wild turn this would all take. ... I did say to John that first time that this sounded like a movie, and don't be surprised if somebody calls you." Albom added, "I spoke to Mike Tollin; we are part of the philanthropic group PACE, and by the time I was done telling John's story to Mike, he was in. I called John back and said, 'We may have a movie deal, right here.'" Tollin said, "We had an inside track because of Mitch, but this became a bit more expensive for us because there were so many bidders. ... We feel like this has studio potential, and we'll develop the script ourselves, but we will be in touch with our pals at studios to share our feelings about the commercial prospects of this" (DEADLINE.com, 2/23). In Houston, Matt Wyatt noted MSM is the same company responsible for the movies "GOOD BURGER" ('97), "VARSITY BLUES" ('99), "HARDBALL" ('01), "RADIO" ('03), and "COACH CARTER" ('05). Scott, who was named ASG MVP, "was originally approached about a movie deal through his agent" (CHRON.com, 2/23).
