Mitch Albom to write John Scott movie

By @MichaelCaples –

While John Scott was mesmerizing the hockey world with his journey to the NHL All-Star Game, there was plenty of talk about his tale being made into a movie one day.

Mitch Albom is making that happen by writing the script for the feature film about the Michigan Tech native.

As reported by Deadline Hollywood (we know, not a site we are normally crediting on here), Albom, a Detroit sports journalism legend, will write the story for the Michigan Tech’s all-star moment – a film that will be produced by Mandalay Sports Media’s Mike Tollin and Jon Weinbach.

The latter are foreign names – we know. However, Tollin has produced or directed sports movies like Radio, Coach Carter, hardball, Varsity Blues and Summer Catch, while Weinbach has worked with ESPN “30for30” documentaries, so it seems like the production is in good hands.

With Albom penning the tale, things seem promising for a John Scott movie.

“I’ve covered sports for 30 years and living in a hockey town like Detroit, I’ve got a soft spot for hockey stories because, like the city, it’s an underdog sport,” Albom told Deadline Hollywood. “When I first spoke to John, I didn’t know the wild turn this would all take. He was at the tail end of a career where he was an enforcer, also known by the ugly word ‘goon,’ a guy whose job is to protect the skill players. I did say to John that first time that this sounded like a movie, and don’t be surprised if somebody calls you. He said, ‘Oh, come on,’ with all sincerity. A day later, I spoke to Mike Tollin; we are part of the philanthropic group PACE, and by the time I was done telling John’s story to Mike, he was in. I called John back and said, ‘We may have a movie deal, right here.’”

Weinbach said there was a lot of Hollywood interest in creating a Scott movie.

“We had an inside track because of Mitch, but this became a bit more expensive for us because there were so many bidders,” Tollin said, via Deadline. “I’d just returned from the ‘Townie’ screening of Eddie The Eagle, where the longest of longshots prevailed, and where I saw the crowd there just eat it up. I got home, and sat and watched the All-Star Game and said to Mitch, all he has to do is a little something and we’ve got our third act. Two goals, MVP, carried off on the shoulders of the players, with this great image of his very pregnant wife in the stands? We feel like this has studio potential, and we’ll develop the script ourselves, but we will be in touch with our pals at studios to share our feelings about the commercial prospects of this.”

We can’t wait to see what comes of a John Scott movie – the former Husky sure is getting plenty of attention these days.