*The life of Roberto Clemente is headed to the big screen as Legendary Pictures develops a film on the legendary baseball player.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the company has entered into an agreement with Clemente’s family for his life rights as well as picked up the rights to David Maraniss’ book “Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.” On board with Legendary to produce the biopic are Ben Silverman and Jay Weisleder via their Fuego Films, while Giselle Fernandez and Sandra Condito serve as executive producers.
Noted for being the first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as his “rifle of an arm” and “passion for the game,” Clemente stands as one of the few players to have 3,000 career hits. The Puerto Rican Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder, who played his entire career with the Pirates from 1955-1972, was named National League MVP in 1966 and World Series MVP in 1971.
In addition to his achievements in baseball, Clemente was known for his charity work, which included spending years helping people in the Caribbean, according to the Reporter. The athlete’s good heart was on full display when he helped organized disaster relief after an earthquake hit Nicaragua in December 1972. Tragically, Clemente was on board a plane overloaded with aid packages that was headed to Nicaragua when it crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico on New Year’s Eve.
In 1973, Clemente was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The outfielder’s biopic marks Legendary’s second baseball-related film after the success of its 2013 critically acclaimed Jackie Robinson biopic “42.”
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