Walt Disney Pictures’ “Million Dollar Arm,” starring Jon Hamm, has began production. The film is being directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray, and Joe Roth. Palak Patel and Kevin Halloran are serving as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Tom McCarthy. “Million Dollar Arm” also stars Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, Suraj Sharma, Aasif Mandvi, Madhur Mittal, Pitobash and Academy Award–winner Alan Arkin. A.R. Rahman is scoring the film. “Million Dollar Arm” will be filmed in India, Georgia, and Los Angeles.
Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm,” which is based on a true story, follows JB Bernstein. Bernstein is a once-successful sports agent who now finds himself edged out by his competitors. He and his partner Aash will be forced to close their business down for good if JB doesn’t come up with something fast. Late one night, while watching cricket being played in India on TV, JB comes up with an idea that just might work. He thinks, “Why not go to there and find the next baseball pitching sensation?” Setting off for Mumbai with nothing but a gifted but cantankerous scout in tow, JB creates a televised, nationwide competition called “Million Dollar Arm.” In this competition, 40,000 hopefuls compete before two 18-year-old finalists, Rinku and Dinesh, emerge as winners. JB brings the two back to the United States to train with legendary pitching coach Tom House with the goal of getting the boys signed to a major league team.
