From DHD – Cue the triumphant music, because The Weinstein Company has snapped up screen rights to The Boys in the Boat, a non-fiction book by Daniel James Brown that tells the story of The University of Washington’s 8-man rowing team, who back in 1936 beat out all the elite Ivy League crew teams for the honor of representing the United States at the Olympics – and then they went on to win the gold.
WME made the deal based on a 17-page proposal; the book isn’t set up at a publishing house yet, but several are circling.
Admit it – we’re all suckers for a good underdog sports story…
Actually the Olympics were in 1936.
You’re right – 1936, the famous Nazi Olympics…
The Washington crew has the 1936 Olympics, as well as a 1958 “behind the iron curtain” victory in the USSR. The book isn’t finished yet, so I don’t know if it will stick to the Olympics story, or have a broader element that includes the cold war-era race, but as a UW alum and fan of the crew team, I’m looking forward to both the book and the movie.