Everyone loves a great sports comeback story, right?
In professional sports, to reach the top of your game, one must find the ideal combination of skill, tenacity, and plenty of luck. Josh Hamilton, the 2009 American League MVP who is currently on the biggest hot streak of his career, has had the rockiest road to the big leagues in recent memory. After pitching 95 MPH at 15 years old and being touted as baseball’s next superstar, the former first overall pick had nothing but misfortune befall on him during his late teens and early twenties.
After getting in a car accident shortly after being drafted in 1999, Hamilton became an alcoholic, putting him on a downward spiral that led to him being an avid cocaine user and getting kicked out of baseball during his ascent to the big leagues. In and out of rehab through what should have been the best years of his life, Hamilton was at his worst when he was caught by his mother smoking crack, which led to him being abandoned by scouts, teammates, friends and family.
Playing on the recent successes of The Rookie, Invincible, and The Blind Side, producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road pictures, who own the rights to Josh Hamilton’s story, have chosen Casey Affleck as their man to bring Hamilton to the big screen.
Best known as Ben Affleck’s little brother but an aspiring filmmaker in his own right, Casey Affleck is locked in to write and direct Josh Hamilton’s remarkable journey from the gutter to the top of America’s pastime. Hamilton’s rise is unique in that he disappeared from the limelight and ruined his body with drugs for the good part of seven years.
After finally seeing the light, Hamilton decided to show the world that he still possessed the athletic gifts that made him so special in his teenage years. Starting from the bottom of baseball cleaning toilets at a training center for a local minor league team, Hamilton regained his natural athletic talents, rehashing old relationships and regaining the trust of big league managers to become one of the premier hitters in all of baseball. After being put through the Hollywood machine, Casey Affleck is hoping that Hamilton’s story will resonate with viewers as a great American redemption story of our time.
Source: Deadline