As stories go, it's a winner. Twelve Mighty Orphans, a bestseller written by Texas author Jim Dent and published in 2008, is about to become a movie. Not only that, its producers set up offices on South Lamar a few months ago, in what appears to be a closely guarded enterprise (we have reached for comment, to no avail). But now, the website Deadline reports that three-time Oscar nominee Michael De Luca, the producer of such films as Captain Phillips and Social Network, is among the producers of Twelve Mighty Orphans, whose script is co-written by director Ty Roberts and Lane Garrison, who graduated from Richardson Pearce High School.
No word yet on who will play who, but the role of Rusty Russell figures to be a catch for a Hollywood actor. Russell was the real-life coach who led a football team from a Fort Worth orphanage to the state championship, at the height of the Great Depression.
De Luca told Deadline: "The world needs to see powerful, inspirational true stories like this right now and this one, with its message that every single child, regardless of class and background, has tremendous God-given value and deserves their chance to be loved and shine will resonate with audiences worldwide."
