A new book and feature film project about Patriots QB TOM BRADY is "on its way," according to Anita Busch of DEADLINE.com. Screenwriters PAUL TAMSAY and ERIC JOHNSON are joining up with the N.Y. Times' CASEY SHERMAN and Boston-based journalist DAVE WEDGE to write the project. The book and film will chronicle Brady's "come-from-behind win in Super Bowl LI, but it’s not going to shy away from controversy and will include the team’s battle to overcome the Deflategate debacle" in '14, and "follow Brady’s fall from grace and then his triumphant return to lead the Patriots to his fifth world championship" (DEADLINE.com, 2/15). FS1's Jay Onrait said, "This is very exciting. ... I assume it starts with the four-game suspension at the beginning of the season and ends with this triumphant scene as the players embrace each other and ROGER GOODELL is humiliated and has to present ROBERT KRAFT with the Lombardi Trophy" ("Fox Sports Live," FS1, 2/16). ESPN's Mike Greenberg asked, "Can you imagine how Goodell is going to be painted in this thing?” ESPN’s Ryen Russillo: "Two years of doing that topic almost daily -- I lived it, so I don't need to see the movie” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 2/16).CBSSPORTS.com's John Breech wrote there is a "good chance everyone in Atlanta will boycott this movie" (CBSSPORTS.com, 2/15).
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| Malcolm Butler's life will be turned into a film currently being called "The Secondary" |
THE BUTLER DID IT: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Josh Alper noted producer DANIEL LEVIN has purchased Patriots CB MALCOLM BUTLER's "life rights along with those of agent DEREK SIMPSON for a film" currently being called "THE SECONDARY" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com. 2/15). ESPN’s Greenberg: "The Malcolm Butler story is actually the story of an extraordinarily unlikely rise to stardom. ... It is a remarkable story” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 2/16).
90-DEGREE TURNS: VARIETY's Todd Spangler noted “QB1: BEYOND THE LIGHTS," a 10-part docu-series, premiered last night on Verizon’s Go90 mobile video service, with "new installments to be released weekly." The series was created and produced by PETER BERG, and is "about three top American high-school football quarterbacks who aspire to someday make it to the NFL" (VARIETY.com, 2/15). Meanwhile, THE DAILY DOT's Josh Katzowitz noted Pro Football HOFer MARSHALL FAULK is "working on the internet’s answer to 'SHARK TANK' if the ABC hit was mediated by sports stars instead of ultra-successful business people." He recently "helped jumpstart a new series" called "MVP" on Go90. For the 43-year-old Faulk, the "opportunity to move into the digital world was the right opportunity at the right time." The show's panel will be led by Patriots TE ROB GRONKOWSKI (DAILYDOT.com, 2/13).
FLEXING THE GOLDEN PIPES: In Houston, Matt Wyatt notes Steelers RB LE'VEON BELL, whose rap alias is "JUICE," is "set to release a new album, 'POST INTERVIEW,' on March 1." It is Bell's "first LP." During Super Bowl week, Bell "dropped a single" entitled "Shrimp Bayless" that targeted Fox Sports' SKIP BAYLESS (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2/16)....Former MLBer BARRY ZITO is the "first Cy Young winner to make the Billboard charts," as his debut album, "NO SECRETS EP," ranks No. 15 on Americana/Folk album sales (MERCURYNEWS.com, 2/15).
HOCKEY'S HIDDEN FIGURES? In Buffalo, Amy Moritz notes former NHLer TONY MCKEGNEY is part of a new documentary "SOUL ON ICE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE" and was "part of a screening and discussion" yesterday at the Amherst Dipson Theatre. The doc explores the "legacy of hockey players of color in the NHL." The "heart of the film" is the story of 21-year-old OHL Sarnia Sting RW JADEN LINDO, and it "features in-depth interviews with current and former NHL players," including Flyers RW WAYNE SIMMONDS, Hockey HOFer GRANT FUHR and the first U.S.-born black NHLer VAL JAMES (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/16).
