It's been a while since I've heard anything about Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, the Indian game show winners signed by the Pirates in a nicely-disguised PR stunt in 2008. Of course, I maintain that it was only categorized as a PR stunt since the Pirates were involved. Had Theo Epstein summoned the boys to Red Sox Nation, it would've been hailed as a forward-thinking step in a previously-untapped resource of a baseball territory. But I digress.
Both young men pitched in 2009 in very small doses: Patel was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in six innings in the Gulf Coast League, while Singh went 1-2 with a 5.84 ERA in 12 1/3 innings. They returned home to a hero's welcome in November, and recently landed back in Pirate City. Said Patel of the Pirates' play earlier in the week: "We watching Pirates losing very bad this week. We not liking this - Pirates our team."
Truer words have never been spoken.
With the baseball end of things ready to hit full stride again, we can now turn our attention to other news of Indian-game-show-winning Pirates, specifically their upcoming movie treatment, entitled Million Dollar Arm (after their reality show).
That's right, plans for the long-rumored movie about the duo continue to steam forward, and the producers will be Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and Joe Roth, whose impressive resume of past projects includes The Rookie, Miracle, Invincible and the upcoming Secretariat. It will be written by Hollywood veteran Mitch Glazer, who is fresh from writing and directing Passion Play with Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray. This is not a project that's being taken lightly.
That's right, plans for the long-rumored movie about the duo continue to steam forward, and the producers will be Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray and Joe Roth, whose impressive resume of past projects includes The Rookie, Miracle, Invincible and the upcoming Secretariat. It will be written by Hollywood veteran Mitch Glazer, who is fresh from writing and directing Passion Play with Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray. This is not a project that's being taken lightly.
Ciari and Gray see Million Dollar Arm as a combination of Slumdog Millionaire and Jerry Maguire, two movies that combined to rake in over $650 million worldwide. In other words, I think it's safe to say that this movie should do well at the box office, considering the behind-the-scenes talent and the worldwide appeal of such a film.
But what does all this really mean? It sounds to me like the best return-on-investment in Pittsburgh Pirate history, regardless of what these guys ever accomplish on a baseball diamond.
Sony Sparks To 'Million Dollar Arm' Pitch [Deadline.com]
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1 comment:
If they sign Harold and Kumar to play the leads, this could have blockbuster written all over it.
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