The shocking gambling scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani¡¯s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, which made headlines across the world earlier this year, is already heading to television.
Lionsgate Television shared on Thursday that it is in early development on a scripted series that will follow the story of Ohtani¡¯s rise to stardom, his historic $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the sudden gambling scandal that encircled him after the shocking revelation that his long-time interpreter and friend Mizuhara had allegedly stolen nearly $17 million from his bank account to pay off gambling debts.
The major entertainment company is behind many hit TV shows such as ¡°Mad Men¡± and ¡°Orange is the New Black.¡±
¡°This is major league baseball¡¯s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose ¡ª and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,¡± author Albert Chen, who is signed on as a co-producer, said in a statement. ¡°We¡¯ll get to the heart of the story ¡ª a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame.¡±
Along with Chen, who is a former senior editor at Sports illustrated and an award-winning author who wrote ¡°Billion Dollar Fantasy,¡± a book on sports gambling, 13-time Tony Award winner and television producer Scott Delman is also attached to the series. Delman is known for his work on the TV series ¡°Station 11,¡± as well as major Broadway hits such as ¡°The Book of Mormon¡± and ¡°Death of a Salesman.¡±
¡°With a strong track record of creating daring, boundary-pushing series, Lionsgate Television is the perfect partner to bring this unbelievable story to the screen,¡± Delman said in a statement. ¡°In addition, Albert¡¯s extensive sports journalism background will enable us to connect the dots to make sense of the startling turn of events we¡¯ve seen play out on the world stage.¡±
Being in the early development stage, not much else is known about the project, leaving many questions open ¡ª such as who will play the 193-centimeter Ohtani ¡ª especially given that Mizuhara¡¯s trial has yet to take place and many things about the scandal remain unresolved.
Mizuhara has agreed to plead guilty to the federal charges of bank fraud and submitting a false tax return and is set to appear at a formal arraignment before a U.S. magistrate on Tuesday.
Mizuhara¡¯s illegal sports betting scandal is said to be one of the most prominent since Pete Rose was caught gambling on MLB games while playing for and managing the Cincinnati Reds 35 years ago. Rose was banned from baseball for life in August 1989.
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