WARM BODIES Director to Take on Chess in BROOKLYN CASTLE
Warm Bodies director Jonathan Levine is looking to team back up with his 50/50 screenwriter Will Reiser for a new film called Brooklyn Castle. The movie will be produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
It's based on a documentary directed by Katie Dellamaggiore about "the trials and tribulations of the junior unbeatable champion chess team at I.S. 318. That’s an inner-city junior high school where more than 65% of students come from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level and where budget cuts threaten to derail its chessboard dominance."
Levine is a talented young director, and this seems like a great project for him to develop. I enjoy these types of inspiring films. The doc won the Audience Award at SXSW last year, so it must be a great story.
Here's the description of the doc:
This movie tells the stories of five members of the chess team at a below-the-poverty-line inner city junior high school that has won more national championships than any other in the country. The film follows the challenges these kids face in their personal lives as well as on the chessboard, and is as much about the sting of their losses as it is about the anticipation of their victories. Ironically, the biggest obstacle thrust upon them arises not from other competitors but from recessionary budget cuts to all the extracurricular activities at their school. The kids' dedication to chess magnifies their belief in what is possible for their lives. After all, if they can master the world's most difficult game, what can't they do?
Via: Deadline