While Hollywood has tried to turn Jay Baruchel into a leading man with the likes of She’s Out of My League and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, so far it hasn’t quite worked. However he doesn’t seem that bothered, as even if he has to spend the rest of his life being a sidekick, he’s busily building himself a parallel career as a screenwriter.
He co-wrote the ice hockey comedy Goon, which has just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to decent reviews, and now he’s keeping the sports theme as Variety reports he’ll pen Baseballissimo. Once more teaming up with Goon co-scribe Jay Chabot, the film will be based on a 2005 non-fiction book by musician and author Dave Bidini, which charts what ahppened to his family in Mettuno, which became the baseball capital of Italy after American GIs introduced the sport there at the end of World War II.
Baruchel and Chabot have already been on a scouting mission to Nettuno to find out what it’s all about and will now come up with the script for the Canadian film.