Guerrieri: New movie in the works on Shoeless Joe Jackson
From SABR member Vince Guerreri at Did The Tribe Win Last Night? on September 5, 2018:
Over the years, Shoeless Joe Jackson has taken on a mythical quality. Even his name suggests someone born to play ball without even the encumbrance of footwear.
He’s also been immortalized in film. The original characterization of Roy Hobbs in the book “The Natural” was based heavily on him, and some of that carried over to the movie (to wit: His named special bat). Ray Liotta played him in “Field of Dreams,” a movie based on a book called “Shoeless Joe.” And D.B. Sweeney played him in “Eight Men Out,” John Sayles’ telling of the 1919 World Series fix.
Now, another movie is in the works, this one focusing on Jackson himself, his rise from poverty in South Carolina to the major leagues and his subsequent role as either a victim of circumstance or a tragic antihero, depending on how charitable you are.
It started about eight years ago for Renee James, the film’s producer, after a chance encounter with another South Carolina native in Palm Springs. The conversation turned to Shoeless Joe.
Read the full article here: http://didthetribewinlastnight.com/blog/2018/09/05/movie-in-the-works-on-shoeless-joe/
Originally published: September 14, 2018. Last Updated: September 14, 2018.