Kevin Costner is in final talks to topline Disney and Mayhem Pictures' the long-in-development track team drama McFarland, the next effort of Whale Rider director Niki Caro who signed on to the movie last fall.
The film, which is based on a 1997 Los Angeles Times piece titled ‘A Labor of Love for Boys of McFarland,' tells the true story of Jim White, a high school track and field coach, living in 1980s predominantly Latino McFarland, California, a small town outside Bakersfield, who inspired his team to greatness on and off the field.
Caro is directing from a script she wrote with Grant Thompson, described as a cross between Remember the Titans and Coach Carter.
Disney bought the rights to this story back in 2004, but little progress was made until last April when Mayhem Pictures' producers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, well-known in the inspirational sports genre, having produced movies such as Miracle, Invincible and Secretariat, had signed on to bring McFarland to life.
Vet thesp, who will soon be seen playing Jonathan Kent in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, later starred in successful sports films such as Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Tin Cup and For the Love of the Game.
Stay tuned.
Source: Variety
