A lot of news out of Hollywood (and other places) this week! First, Ice Cube is bringing the story of Dock Ellis to the big screen.
Dock Ellis Story to the Big Screen
What story? Dock Ellis was a MLB pitcher on the Pittsburgh Pirates who threw a no-hitter on June 12, 1970 against the San Diego Padres, while under the influence of the drug, LSD. Ice Cube has O’Shea Jackson, Jr., from Straight Outta Compton, set to star as Dock Ellis.
According to Deadline, this is the first project to come from Cube Vision’s strategic partnership with AID Partners, where Cube does it all, bringing the movies from idea to the screen.
Speaking of films, if you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, then check out Courageous, the NBC Sports Films documentary that chronicles Ted Turner’s quest to win sailing’s 1977 America’s Cup. This weekend is the historic sporting event and NBC will show this documentary on Saturday, June 17, at 2:30 p.m., after the first two races, which takes place in Bermuda. The documentary is narrated by two-time Academy Award-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas. Apparently, Douglas has family roots in Bermuda that date back to the 1600’s and he lobbied to bring the America’s Cup to Bermuda.
Sporror Movies?
How about some sports and horror? No, we’re not talking about the way the season is going for the New York Mets (oh snap, did she really say that?!). Instead, we’re talking about a company, Gunpowder & Sky, who has teamed with sports content and media outfit Mandalay Sports Media to create sports-themed horror titles. Their first project is a movie called Lucky Number, which centers around a pro basketball superstar who must pay up on a deal he made with the devil, “transforming into the most athletic and frightening killer in cinematic history” (okay, that’s to be seen, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves). Although I have no idea who they are talking about yet, the companies say that professional athletes, “many of whom are horror fans”, will appear in Lucky Number and other films.
But take a look at the name of the genre. I don’t know if Deadline did it or the companies did it, but the genre has combined sports + horror to call themselves “sporror” films — that’s a horror in itself. No. Sports horror films is better or something else is better. Hell, anything is better.
Olympics All Year Round
If you’re one of those sports fans who can’t get enough of the Olympics, then this is good news for you. According to Cynopsis, The Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA is coming to more than 35 million homes next month, allowing fans to connect to Olympic sports, athletes and stories all year round. The programming will complement 400 hours (400 hours!!!!!) of Olympic Sports coverage already scheduled to air in 2017 on NBC and NBCSN, and streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Formed through a collaboration between the IOC, U.S. Olympic Committee and NBCU, the Olympic Channel will be available to most subscribers of Altice, AT&T DirecTV, Comcast, Spectrum and Verizon at the July 15 launch. It will also be available on streaming services including DirecTV Now, Fubo, Hulu, Sony PlayStation Vue and YouTube TV.
Book News
The Pride of the Yankees is one of the best sports movies ever made. Now, you can read all about the making of this piece of movie history in a new book. Author Richard Sandomir has written, “The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic,” and it’s out now. Pick it up.
Getting kids to love to read can be tough so the Green Bay Packers’ tight end Martellus Bennett is collaborating with YouTube Kids for their global #ReadAlong Month campaign. Book publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and National Geographic Kids have created digital content to help kids learn how to read and how to enjoy reading. Bennett joined the campaign to inspire his 4-year-old daughter and other children to develop a passion for reading. Way to go Martellus!
