Glen Powell and Richard Linklater are reuniting, this time for a biopic of one of the most famous baseball players of all time.
Powell will star as New York Yankee Lou Gehrig in Linklater’s biopic, which is at Universal. Simon Rich will write the project and Lorne Michaels, a longtime Yankees fan, will produce alongside Erin David as part of Broadway Video’s first-look deal with Universal. Powell and Dan Cohen will also produce as part of Barnstorm’s first-look deal with the studio. Linklater will also produce through Detour Filmproduction.
This is actually the fifth time that Linklater and Powell have worked together. One of Powell’s very first films was Linklater’s adaptation of “Fast Food Nation” back in 2006. Since then Powell has appeared in the baseball-themed “Everybody Wants Some!!,” the charming animated film “Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood” and Powell’s breakout, 2023’s romantic thriller “Hit Man.”
Gehrig, a legendary baseball player nicknamed “The Iron Horse,” played 17 seasons for the New York Yankees, signing in 1923. His career was cut short with the diagnosis that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable neuromuscular illness that today is more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig disease.
His story was memorialized in the 1942 film “The Pride of the Yankees,” directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper as Gehrig. Gehrig died a year before the film was released. The film won an Oscar for editing and was nominated for 10 more Academy Awards, including Cooper’s lead performance. Later, it was ranked 22nd in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 most inspiring movies.
Senior EVP Production Development Erik Baiers will oversee the project for Universal.
Powell is represented by CAA, The Initiative Group and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole. Linklater is repped by CAA and Cinetic Media. Rich is represented by CAA and Eastman and Eastman.
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