What do Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, John Madden, Harry Houdini, and Michael Phelps all have in common?
Not much, until yesterday.
Biopics about all five, including the most decorated Olympian in history, appeared in the 2022 Black List that was released this week. The list is an annual roundup of the Hollywood studio and production company executives’ most-liked unproduced screenplays.
The list was first developed in 2005, an of the more than 1,000 screenplays that have appeared on the list, over 440 have been produced into theatrical films, according to the New York Times. That includes 4 of the last 10 Academy Award winners for Best Picture, as well as 12 of the last 20 Oscars for screenwriting.
Among the recognizable names on that list include Argo, Juno, American Hustle, The King’s Speech, and Slumdog Millionaire.
The name of the Phelps movie is Resurfaced written by relative-unknown screenwriter Alyssa Ross.
Ross, who acts and writes, hasn’t written or acted in anything that you’ve heard of, she was on the varsity track & cross country teams at Brandeis University and is an elite triathlete, so she has an athletic background.
The tag line of the film in The Black List reads:
After Michael Phelps cements his status as the greatest Olympian of all time, he struggles to build a life and identity for himself outside the pool.
“The Black List is what producers describe as the ‘hottest’ screenplays in Hollywood,” said Pieter Ritz, who is an assistant swim coach at UNLV and majored in film at Cleveland State. “Michael Phelps‘ story resonates with a lot of people, but probably why his screenplay is getting the press it is is because it’s more to do with his post retirement than what he did in the pool. It’s a story that many of us in the swimming community know is just as powerful as the one that made him the GOAT (not to be confused with another one of the 2022 Black List screenplays).
“I’m sure a lot of people are asking ‘cool, there’s a screenplay out there, will we see it made?” Ritz continued. “It’s a high likelihood of yes, it’s all a matter of time of when you’ll see them out in theaters or on streaming. Some take no time at all and will be in production very quickly, if not already, some may take a few years. With so many prospective filmmakers in our sport right now, maybe we’ll see one bring this story to light.”
Phelps has a few acting credits to his name, though reviews have been…mixed. He made an appearance on an episode of Suits and another on Entourage. He also hosted Saturday Night Live, the NBC sketch comedy show.
So who would play Michael Phelps? Ritz mused that Ben Affleck could fill the role. Timothy Olyphant looks close enough and was a member of the varsity swim team at USC, so he could offer a production something both in his acting and his knowledge of the sport – and has a young enough look to play 30, maybe.
Ritz also suggested Hunter Doohan from the movie Wednesday (the new Addams Family movie) or English actor Theo James (who played “four” in the Divergent Series).
Kevin Mann, the head swim coach at Loyola High School in California, which won the California Boys’ Swimming & Diving High School State Championship in 2022, is another film-swimming crossover. A long-time film producer, among his notable works is “Legacy,” the Hulu documentary about the Los Angeles Lakers.
He suggested Spiderman, Andrew Garfield, for the role.
Would love to see RJ Mitte play Phelps. He has the look, but having CP might get in the way of him being able to play a professional athlete.
But I’m sure there’s a cereal joke in there somewhere if he got the role.
I would love to see a Phelps biopic. But I do think with such a long term story it needs to be properly executed. Biopics have been falling in terms of quality due to the over saturation of them within cinema. I could see a Phelps biopic being amazing, one of the better sports films. But I could also see it replicating Elvis (dir. Baz Lutherman) and have the pacing of important life points being funky. I’d be interested in reading the Blacklist screen play though. Would be a great read for sure.
I think the best ones have been the miniseries. I like a biopic much better as a miniseries than as a movie, personally. I think for the really interesting people, like Phelps, you need those kind of chapters to properly tell the story.
Speaking of Hunter Doohan, I couldn’t help but see Caeleb Dressel when I watched Wednesday. He’d be perfect if there was ever a movie about Dressel
It already exists…?
Unfiltered (2005)
The unprecedented look into the lives and competitive rivalry of two of America’s greatest swimmers: Michael Phelps and Ian Crocker.
Hopefully the movie won’t gloss over his DUI arrest, as the American mainstream media loves to do
Agreed, and also his recovery and commitment to mental health would be important to include also.
…and the bong incident
That would make it better. I think a good film could be made actually
The timing of the movie, if indeed there is one, is bad. As great as Phelps was, his time has passed. A movie before he retired, or at least very shortly after, would have been compelling, at least in swimming terms. Just look at the Missy Franklin movie, “Touching the Wall.” People cared about her and her career, and even Kara Lynn Joyce and her career. Now, who really cares about a guy who plays celebrity golf?
Lol. Ever heard of The Last Dance series? Think that did pretty well 20 years after MJ’s retirement.
honestly I’d be on board with anybody who was a swimmer previously (which i know includes Timothy Olyphant & Andrew Garfield)
I’ve watched a few swimming based films & the best one out there is Nadia, Buttterfly by far
since this particular script would be focused on the retirement part of Michael Phelps (so the swimming shots aren’t as important), I have a strong feeling still that the director Pascal Plante would be an excellent fit for this since he had such great artistic choices for Nadia, Butterily & was a former swimmer himself
to summarize, I also would just be happy for any movie that promotes the sport of swimming lol
even though it might be a challenge to encompass a goat like MP, I’d be down for any film that would have to do with the GOAT
Swimming does not make good movies.
Truly all terrible.
Don’t know that I’ve ever seen one.
you can make a good movie out of any topic if you are creative enough
But: The Swimmers, now on Netflix.
Bro, have you never seen Swim Fan? They didn’t even get the times correct for his events. Truly Oscar worthy.
Nadia Butterfly with Katherine Savard, that just anchored Canada for a bronze medal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia,_Butterfly