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For some reason Sony agreed to make a movie out of the Michael Lewis baseball bestseller "Moneyball." Brad Pitt got on board, crews were hired, shooting was to begin today in Arizona — then Sony co-boss Amy Pascal shut it down over a script issue. Hollywood writers try to parse what's up:
- Peter Bart & Michael Fleming: "The move came after Pascal read a rewrite that Soderbergh did to Steven Zaillian's script and found it very different from the earlier scripts she championed. Pascal was uncomfortable enough with how the vision had changed that she applied the brakes."
- Anne Thompson: "She's asserting her power to just say no....Pascal can afford to let this movie go because it was always a risky play, and she clearly isn't willing to take a gamble right now unless she believes in it."
- David Poland: "I don't have an answer. But I am 98% sure that the simplified line being floated out there that Amy Pascal was either asserting herself or just couldn't find it in her heart to back the script changes is not the full story."
Loved the book, but I have a hard time seeing a movie in it. Stay tuned, though. Other studios are looking at taking it off Sony's hands.