Brad Pitt’s 'Moneyball' finally a go

(AFP/TIM SLOAN)

The embattled film project Moneyball, which Steven Soderbergh was set to direct when the studio pulled the plug last year over "creative differences," has re-emerged with Brad Pitt still in the lead role.

The story follows the Oakland A's baseball team and its maverick general manager Billy Beane (played by Pitt), who used computer-generated analysis of statistics to draft players and successfully kept the sports team on budget.

Soderbergh had rewritten the approved script, including his vision for more authentic re-enactments, including scenes with real baseball players, such as Darryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra, who the director interviewed on film. Production was halted at the last minute.

The film is now directed by Bennett Miller ( Capote) with a script by Aaron Sorkin along with the original version by Steve Zaillian.

Based on a bestselling book, Moneyball: the Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, the film also stars Jonah Hill ( Get Him to the Greek), Robin Wright ( State of Play) and Philip Seymour Hoffman ( Doubt).

Moneyball begins shooting in LA and Northern California, covering daylight and night-game scenes of real games at the coliseum.

RC