Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the Luke Wilson and Martin Sheen drama “12 Mighty Orphans,” an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.
The film also stars Vinessa Shaw, Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams, Ron White, Scott Haze and Robert Duvall. Ty Roberts is directing. The screenplay is written by Roberts, Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer, adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling book of the same name.
“12 Mighty Orphans” tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who, during the Great Depression, went from playing without shoes to competing in the Texas state championships.
“There is a reason underdog stories hold so much weight in the popular imagination, and we know the Mighty Mites’ true story of triumph over adversity — set in a time when much of the country was suffering — will lift the spirits of audiences worldwide.
The film also stars Vinessa Shaw, Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams, Ron White, Scott Haze and Robert Duvall. Ty Roberts is directing. The screenplay is written by Roberts, Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer, adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling book of the same name.
“12 Mighty Orphans” tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who, during the Great Depression, went from playing without shoes to competing in the Texas state championships.
“There is a reason underdog stories hold so much weight in the popular imagination, and we know the Mighty Mites’ true story of triumph over adversity — set in a time when much of the country was suffering — will lift the spirits of audiences worldwide.
- 1/19/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide distribution rights to “12 Mighty Orphans,” a new drama starring Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, Vinessa Shaw and Robert Duvall.
Sheen and Duvall have not shared the screen together since 1979, in Francis Ford Coppola’s landmark “Apocalypse Now.”
Adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling novel, “12 Mighty Orphans” tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who, during the Great Depression, went from playing without shoes or a football to playing in the Texas state championships. The team was led by legendary high school coach Rusty Russell, who few knew was himself an orphan. Russell abandoned a cushy gig teaching privileged kids to teach and coach at the orphanage home of the Mighty Mites.
The project was directed by Ty Roberts, who adapted the screenplay with Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer. Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams,...
Sheen and Duvall have not shared the screen together since 1979, in Francis Ford Coppola’s landmark “Apocalypse Now.”
Adapted from Jim Dent’s bestselling novel, “12 Mighty Orphans” tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who, during the Great Depression, went from playing without shoes or a football to playing in the Texas state championships. The team was led by legendary high school coach Rusty Russell, who few knew was himself an orphan. Russell abandoned a cushy gig teaching privileged kids to teach and coach at the orphanage home of the Mighty Mites.
The project was directed by Ty Roberts, who adapted the screenplay with Lane Garrison and Kevin Meyer. Wayne Knight, Jake Austin Walker, Treat Williams,...
- 1/19/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Star Trek Into Darkness actress Alice Eve is set to co-star opposite Luke Wilson in the Ty Roberts-helmed sports pic, 12 Mighty Orphans. The film, which hails from Michael De Luca Productions, Santa Rita Film Co., and Greenbelt Films, is based on Jim Dent’s nonfiction novel about a group of Fort Worth, Texas orphans who vie for the state championship at the height of the Great Depression. Roberts and Lane Garrison adapted the screenplay.
The pic centers on an orphanage where Coach Rusty Russell (played by Wilson) turns a scrawny band of underdogs into fierce warriors that leave their opponents bewildered and battered. These youngsters, in spite of being outweighed by at least thirty pounds per man, are the toughest football team around. They begin with nothing―not even a football―yet Rusty’s innovative offense helps lead the orphans to the state playoffs. At a time...
The pic centers on an orphanage where Coach Rusty Russell (played by Wilson) turns a scrawny band of underdogs into fierce warriors that leave their opponents bewildered and battered. These youngsters, in spite of being outweighed by at least thirty pounds per man, are the toughest football team around. They begin with nothing―not even a football―yet Rusty’s innovative offense helps lead the orphans to the state playoffs. At a time...
- 10/1/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Luke Wilson has been set to star in 12 Mighty Orphans, the Ty Roberts-directed drama adapted from the Jim Dent novel based on the true story of a group of Fort Worth orphans who vie for the state championship and rally a broken nation at the height of the Great Depression.
Wilson will play Coach Rusty Russell, a WWI vet with a troubled past he can trace to his mother leaving him in an orphanage when he was a child. Looking for redemption by trying to turn around the fortune of other orphans, he accepts a job as the head football coach to a Texas orphanage/high school. Through dedication, he redirects his players’ feelings of loss and humiliation into a dominant team that played in the Texas state championship. Roberts wrote the script with Lane Garrison.
Mike De Luca will produce with Houston Hill, who acquired the...
Wilson will play Coach Rusty Russell, a WWI vet with a troubled past he can trace to his mother leaving him in an orphanage when he was a child. Looking for redemption by trying to turn around the fortune of other orphans, he accepts a job as the head football coach to a Texas orphanage/high school. Through dedication, he redirects his players’ feelings of loss and humiliation into a dominant team that played in the Texas state championship. Roberts wrote the script with Lane Garrison.
Mike De Luca will produce with Houston Hill, who acquired the...
- 8/21/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: When producer Michael De Luca made a lifestyle decision to split time between Hollywood and Texas, you had to figure the Captain Phillips and Social Network producer would make the most of his time and find a homegrown story from the latter locale with movie potential. Sure enough, De Luca Productions is teaming with Santa Rita Film Co. and has set a fall production start for the independently financed drama 12 Mighty Orphans. An adaptation of a novel by Jim Dent, the drama tells the true story of a group of Fort Worth orphans who vie for the state championship and rally a broken nation at the height of the Great Depression.
Ty Roberts will direct a script he co-wrote with Lane Garrison. De Luca will produce with Houston Hill, who acquired the rights through Santa Rita Film Co, which produced The Iron Orchard, which Roberts directed from a script he wrote with Garrison.
Ty Roberts will direct a script he co-wrote with Lane Garrison. De Luca will produce with Houston Hill, who acquired the rights through Santa Rita Film Co, which produced The Iron Orchard, which Roberts directed from a script he wrote with Garrison.
- 6/25/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
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