Derek Cianfrance To Direct ESPN Movie Based On Oral History Of Network's Origins

The history of ultimate sports mecca, ESPN, is coming to the big screen, with Derek Cianfrance ("Blue Valentine," "The Place Beyond the Pines") now set to direct the project. Focus Features has greenlit the adaptation of James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales' 2011 oral history "ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun" after 20th Century Fox dropped the movie, this according to TheWrap.

The ESPN biopic has yet to acquire a writer or any cast speculation. If the movie follows its source material closely, ESPN big shots like Bill Simmons and Keith Olbermann could garner prominent depictions.

Producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti are associated with the project, TheWrap reports. De Luca and Brunetti should be at home with the subject matter -- they worked together on "The Social Network," a movie that also charted the rise of a dominant media force. ("Newsroom" detractors, gear up your anti-Aaron Sorkin campaigns now.) Miller, one-half of the writing team on the oral history, will serve as executive producer.

The project has been floating around since summer 2011, when Fox acquired the rights to the book. The biopic could open a new chapter for Cianfrance, whose biggest movies have carried an art-house vibe.

For more, head to TheWrap.