Moneyball (film)

Moneyball
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bennett Miller
Screenplay by	Steven Zaillian Aaron Sorkin
Story by	Stan Chervin
Based on	Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Produced by	Michael De Luca Rachael Horovitz Brad Pitt
Starring	Brad Pitt Jonah Hill Philip Seymour Hoffman
Cinematography	Wally Pfister
Edited by	Christopher Tellefsen
Music by	Mychael Danna
Production companies	Columbia Pictures Scott Rudin Productions Michael De Luca Productions Rachael Horovitz Productions Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release dates	September 9, 2011 (2011-09-09) (TIFF) September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23) (United States)
Running time	133 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$50 million[2]
Box office	$110.2 million[3]

Moneyball is a 2011 American biographical sports drama film directed by Bennett Miller with a script by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin from a story by Stan Chervin. The film is based on the 2003 nonfiction book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis. The book is an account of the Oakland Athletics baseball team's 2002 season and their general manager Billy Beane's attempts to assemble a competitive team with half (or even a third) as much money as his rivals. In the film, Beane and his deputy Peter Brand scour the major leagues for undervalued talent by taking a sophisticated sabermetric approach to scouting and analyzing players, triggering skepticism and resentment within the baseball community.

Columbia Pictures bought the rights to Lewis's book in 2004, hiring Chervin to write the screenplay. David Frankel was initially set to direct with Zaillian now writing the screenplay, but was soon replaced by Steven Soderbergh, who planned to make the film in a semi-documentary style featuring interviews from real athletes, and having the real players and coaches on the team portray themselves. But before its July 2009 filming start, the film was put in turnaround due to creative differences between Soderbergh and Sony over a last-minute script rewrite. Soderbergh exited, and Miller was hired to direct, with Pitt becoming a producer and Sorkin hired for rewrites. Filming began in July 2010 at various stadiums such as Dodger Stadium and Oakland Coliseum.

Moneyball premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and was released on September 23, 2011, to box office success and critical acclaim, particularly for its acting and screenplay. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Pitt and Best Supporting Actor for Hill.