Soderbergh and Pitt Roll With 'Moneyball'

Soderbergh takes to the diamond

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Thursday, February 5th 2009 at 3:21 PM

Variety is reporting Steven Soderbergh is in talks to direct Moneyball, a film based on the Michael Lewis book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game" adapted by Steven Zaillian with Brad Pitt attached to star.

It was expected Soderbergh would next move to direct Cleo, the musical about the fatal romance between Egyptian queen Cleopatra and Roman general Marc Antony. However, perhaps due to the fact Hugh Jackman dropped off the project after he was expected to play Marc Antony, it looks like Moneyball is more likely to become the next film for Soderbergh should the numbers line-up with the Cleo production still expected to move forward, just at a later date with Catherine Zeta-Jones still attached as Cleopatra and Ray Winstone aboard as Caesar.

As for Moneyball, the book focuses on Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, as he used sophisticated computer analysis system to piece together a team that regularly contended for the World Series despite possessing a payroll dramatically lower than big-market rivals like the New York Yankees.

Screenwriter Zaillian's credits include American Gangster, Gangs of New York and Schindler's List to name just a few.

Next for Soderbergh will be The Girlfriend Experience which he premiered at Sundance and the Matt Damon starrer The Informant due out September 18 from Warner Bros.