Director Adam Shankman is going from Hairspray to Bedtime Stories to a gritty football flick. He's set to direct Playing For Pizza, a J. Mills Goodloe adaptation of a John Grisham book about a veteran quarterback who winds up playing semi-pro football in Italy after blowing his career in the NFL.
You may wonder how a former gymnast and choreographer known primarily for directing family comedies is going to tackle a football movie, but Shankman's take on the project would seem to indicate that he's ready for a bit of a change of pace:
"We want to make this grittier than the book, a cross between 'North Dallas Forty' and 'Jerry Maguire,' about a character who fails in the public eye, goes into survival mode as a result and then learns through a series of events that he doesn't have to be Tony Romo to be a success as a man."
No word yet on stars, but after directing Bringing Down The House and Cheaper By The Dozen 2, there's a chance he may work Steve Martin in somewhere.
