Skydance Sports Developing John Grisham’s ‘Playing For Pizza’ For Film; Jason Moore To Direct From Nick Santora Script

Matt Grobar
·3-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Moore (Shotgun Wedding) and Nick Santora (Reacher) are teaming on a film adaptation of Playing for Pizza, the New York Times bestselling novel by John Grisham, for Skydance Sports.

Moore will direct from Santora’s script, with Jesse Sisgold, Jason Reed, and Don Granger producing for Skydance Sports, along with Mark Ciardi (Invincible, American Underdog) and Campbell McInnes for Select Films. Sandino Moya-Smith will oversee the project for Skydance Sports.

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Released in September 2007, Playing for Pizza is a departure from the legal thrillers for which Grisham is best known. The book tells the story of third string quarterback Rick Mastro, the pariah of the football world after one of the worst single performances in NFL history. Cut by his team and with no options left, Rick lands a job as the starting quarterback of the Panthers…of Parma, in the Italian Football League. The Panthers desperately want an NFL winner. But instead, they got Rick. Now — lost in the land of fine wines, extremely small cars, and football americano — Rick must find a way to lead his unlikely underdog team to victory.

One of the most popular authors in the world, Grisham has published dozens of novels since the late 1980s, selling hundreds of millions of copies worldwide. Over the years, many of his books, informed by his professional experience as an attorney, have been adapted for the screen, including The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and A Time to Kill. Recent works include Camino Ghosts (May 2024), the third book in his Camino Island series, and Framed (October 2024), a non-fiction exploration of wrongful convictions, co-written with Jim McCloskey.

A Tony nominee who made his feature directorial debut with hit a capella franchise launcher Pitch Perfect, Moore most recently signed on to direct a live-action/CGI Rugrats film, based on the classic Nickelodeon cartoon, for Paramount, as we told you first. Previously helming Prime Video’s hit Jennifer Lopez rom-com Shotgun Wedding and Universal’s comedy Sisters, starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, he’s also linked to forthcoming adaptations of the books Guncle and This Time Tomorrow.

Santora has extensive history with Skydance as the creator of its series Reacher and FUBAR for Prime Video and Netflix, respectively. Most recently, the company tapped him to script its NFL pic Mr. Irrelevant, which will star Superman‘s David Corenswet. An Emmy and WGA Award nominee, he’s also known for his work on shows like Scorpion and Most Dangerous Game.

Since launching in 2021, Skydance Sports has worked to become the preeminent studio for leagues, teams, elite athletes and A-List Hollywood talent seeking to produce premium, sports-related entertainment. Out of the gate, the studio’s first two projects were the Emmy-nominated docuseries Good Rivals, examining the rivalry between the United States and Mexico national soccer teams, and Ben Affleck’s Golden Globe-nominated sports marketing pic Air, on the origins of the Air Jordan shoe line, both streaming on Prime Video. The company partnered with the NFL and NFL Films on a joint venture to significantly expand multi-platform programming across sports in a broad range of formats in 2022.

Moore and Santora are both repped by WME, while Rand Holston Management and The Gernert Company rep Grisham. Moore is also repped by LBI Entertainment; Santora by Felker Toczek Suddleson.

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