Movie Pitch for "Pistol Pete Maravich"
This would be new type of sports movie, a bit of a musical / dramady showcasing the college years of famed NBA and LSU basketball player Pete Maravich, known far and wide as, simply, The Pistol.
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Anyone who has seen the YouTube videos of Pistol in his college days knows that this guy was a born showman. Anyone who watched him play back in the day knew they were seeing a historically significant figure in the sports world.
The fact that he lived a fascinating, and in the end tragic, existance only adds to the drama, though I believe the best story involves his college years. which were marked by wonderful entertainment but few victories. The wonderful written biography, "Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich", from Mark Kriegel, would seem to be rich territory for a Hollywood studio to mine.
If Jim Caviezel, fine actor and noted basketball player, had a son, he would be the appropriate age to play a college age Pistol. The young man's relationship with his authoritarian father and coach, Press, would be the subject matter of the film, but for my money, the great stuff (this is where the musical comes in) would be Pete's pre game and in game demonstrations of basketball flair. Just watch some of the videos here on YouTube.
Am I the only one who thinks that Pistol Pete Maravich would make a fascinating movie?
It would begin in a high school gym, somewhere in South Carolina, where the Pistol went to school. He was beloved by basketball aficianados, both white and black, for the sheer joy and self expression he played with. The intensity and stifling love showered on Pete by his father and mentor, Press, had yet to take a toll. Press was Head Coach at Clemson, a weak sister school in the ACC, but both dad and boy would move on to the Deep South and Louisiana State University. Pistol was a basketball legend before he ever played in college, and his pre game theatrics in the layup line and pre game passing drills would make an incredible visual. Though he never played on very good teams in college, Pete was the show, and I believe that a film devoted to his artistry, with additional meat thrown in via the dogged determination of his father to make Pete the best basketball player ever and in turn creating a shell of a man once Pete hit adulthood.
But the heart of the film would be music videos of the man doing his thing on the court. I think even non-sports fans would fall in love with the Pistol.
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Anyone who has seen the YouTube videos of Pistol in his college days knows that this guy was a born showman. Anyone who watched him play back in the day knew they were seeing a historically significant figure in the sports world.
The fact that he lived a fascinating, and in the end tragic, existance only adds to the drama, though I believe the best story involves his college years. which were marked by wonderful entertainment but few victories. The wonderful written biography, "Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich", from Mark Kriegel, would seem to be rich territory for a Hollywood studio to mine.
If Jim Caviezel, fine actor and noted basketball player, had a son, he would be the appropriate age to play a college age Pistol. The young man's relationship with his authoritarian father and coach, Press, would be the subject matter of the film, but for my money, the great stuff (this is where the musical comes in) would be Pete's pre game and in game demonstrations of basketball flair. Just watch some of the videos here on YouTube.
Am I the only one who thinks that Pistol Pete Maravich would make a fascinating movie?
It would begin in a high school gym, somewhere in South Carolina, where the Pistol went to school. He was beloved by basketball aficianados, both white and black, for the sheer joy and self expression he played with. The intensity and stifling love showered on Pete by his father and mentor, Press, had yet to take a toll. Press was Head Coach at Clemson, a weak sister school in the ACC, but both dad and boy would move on to the Deep South and Louisiana State University. Pistol was a basketball legend before he ever played in college, and his pre game theatrics in the layup line and pre game passing drills would make an incredible visual. Though he never played on very good teams in college, Pete was the show, and I believe that a film devoted to his artistry, with additional meat thrown in via the dogged determination of his father to make Pete the best basketball player ever and in turn creating a shell of a man once Pete hit adulthood.
But the heart of the film would be music videos of the man doing his thing on the court. I think even non-sports fans would fall in love with the Pistol.
posted by joe sweeney at 6:55 PM
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