BOSTON (AP) - Tom Brady: The Movie?
A new book and a major motion picture are in the works about the New England Patriots’ star quarterback and the “Deflategate” suspension he overcame to earn an unprecedented fifth Super Bowl ring.
But Patriots Nation seems ambivalent, and Brady’s foes say they’ll take a pass.
“The Tom Brady movie is such a bad idea! The dude is so uninteresting and has everything,” said Trevor Twidwell, a Kansas City Chiefs fan from Tucson, Arizona, capturing dislike for Brady and the Patriots outside New England.
Bestselling author Casey Sherman and Boston writer Dave Wedge are collaborating on the book under the working title “Let’s Go!” - Brady’s rallying cry. The pair co-authored “Boston Strong,” which helped inspire “Patriots Day,” a 2017 Lionsgate release starring Mark Wahlberg about the deadly 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Sherman’s novel, “The Finest Hours,” about the Coast Guard’s 1952 rescue of 30 crewmen aboard a sinking tanker off Cape Cod, also was made into a movie released by Walt Disney Pictures last year starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck.
Sherman is working with Academy Award-nominated screenwriters Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson on the book and film about Brady “and his team’s miraculous come-from-behind win” in the Super Bowl in February.
After serving a four-game suspension for his role in the use of underinflated footballs during the 2015 playoffs, Brady returned to lead the Patriots to their fifth NFL championship with a stunning 34-28 comeback win in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons.
Sherman, a native New Englander, likens it to Muhammad Ali’s epic upset of George Foreman in the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” fight.
“Both men, both athletes had to overcome challenges off the field and outside the ring to achieve sports immortality,” Sherman said.
But the movie, targeted for release in 2018, already is being panned. And not just by those who take a cynical view of Brady’s looks and supermodel wife, or think the Patriots are cheaters.
“The worst movies are cheesy and predictable,” said Boston sports commentator and blogger Alex Reimer. “The real-life drama of the Patriots storming back from a 25-point deficit in Super Bowl 51, and then accepting the Lombardi Trophy from Roger Goodell, was enough on its own.”
Brady himself won’t have a hand in the film, agent Don Yee told The Associated Press on Thursday.
“We wish the people involved the best of luck on this project, but we are not involved,” he said.
Unflattering memes and amusing casting suggestions, meanwhile, are circulating on social media. Among the actors some say should play TB12: Wahlberg, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Duhamel and Timothy Olyphant.
Some fans like Melanie Hawes say Brady’s season is a box office natural - even if “people either love the Patriots or hate them.”
“As soon as the game ended, I turned to my friend and said, ’I can’t wait for this game to be made into a movie,’” said Hawes, 22, a graduate student from Plymouth, Massachusetts. “Everyone can agree that that Super Bowl was historic. That game deserves a movie.”
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Follow Bill Kole on Twitter at https://twitter.com/billkole . His work can be found at https://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/william-j-kole .
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