Click on the image to play the video.
Magic Johnson To Co-Produce Hollywood Movie
(April 26, 2006) — Basketball legend Magic Johnson met with Jason McElwain and then spoke to enthusiastic Greece Athena students today at the high school.
Johnson, who will be one of the producers of the upcoming J-Mac movie, said once he saw the highlights of McElwain’s 20-point performance in February, the Hall of Famer was immediately taken by the story.
“I am here because this is a truly amazing story,” Johnson said at a news conference in the gym where J-Mac tossed in six 3-pointers in just more than three minutes.
“It will be an amazing movie. It will give a lot of people hope … It will tell them never to give up, and to be ready for when you get your shot in life.”
Johnson said J-Mac would have a cameo role in the movie.
Johnson said there was no timetable for production of the film, but said Laura Ziskin, who produced the highly popular Spider-Man movies, would return to Greece next month to begin interviews for the project.
What a shame. Take a perfectly inspirational and absolutley wonderful three minutes and turn it into a hundred minute money making, greed inducing movie. No good can come of this. How can anyone possibly improve on this story.
Thanks for the video. I tend to agree with Rosco — I just don’t see how the story can get any better. Times like this show how terrific it can be to live in the age of amateur video. I think it takes the actual footage from the game to give you a real sense of how amazing those shots were, and any reenactment of the event will only diminish the effect. But maybe by the time the movie is finished, there will be more of a story to tell.
This is the time when it’s a “good for the community” type of story. Rosco and Gary, have you two ever known a kid with autism? Hopefully this will help other autistic kids and show them that their disease doesn’t have to hold them back.
On second thought, if turning this into a movie can somehow make it even more compelling and inspiring than the CBS news clip, then my hat will be off to them. But I’ve got to say, CBS news has “heartwarming” down to a science, and they’ll be a tough act to follow. They once had a story on adoption that had me bawling like a baby.
Uh, people like good stories that make them feel good. I’d go see the movie. Dozens of sports movies have come out along these lines, and they’re always fun to watch.
And besides, I’d rather see something like that than something dark and depressing. Think about the trend in TV… shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Queer Eye are all about making people’s lives better, and people like to see that. It just happens to make money for the network/studio as well.
I hope Tarantino directs and it has an army of sexy robot female samurais!
A little suggestion about the title of this post. He is a kid with autism, not an autistic kid. It is always best to think of people with disabilities as people first, not a disability.
Jeffrey Pomranka
Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis
“He is a kid with autism, not an autistic kid. “
So Shania Twain is not a hot chick, she’s a chick with hotness. Got it!
All my BS joking aside, I’m left wondering whether this kid is really a great basketball player. From the news piece I get the very strong impression that this was the only game he ever played in.
Was this a fluke or is he really a great player?!
And if he is great, why is he not still playing?!
#8 SN, Shania Twain is a hot chick with Canadian-ness.
“Shania Twain is a hot chick with Canadian-ness.”
I think Mr. Pomranka would disagree. He’d probably argue that she would be a chick with hot Canadian-ness. No, that implies that “hot” is modifying “Canadian-ness.” Mmm…
She’d probably be a chick with hotness and with Canadian-ness. That wouldn’t make a very good headline, would it?!
#9 SN,
Report I saw says the kid is an assistant to the team and coach. He helps with the equipment during practice, and cheers the team during games. The coach let him dress out for one of the games and was praying that God would let him score a basket so the kid would see what it was like. I guess God heard, look what happened! 🙂
Good question. Will they allow him to play in other games?
I have to say, that is one fantastic effort. Six 3 pointers in just over three minutes, WOW.
Mr. Fusion, I really enjoy your ever-evolving name. So far I think my favorite is still Mr. Blowed Up Real Good Fusion. Brings back fond memories from circa 1980, SCTV….
I agree with the commenters who have said that, whatever the movie turns out to be, the actual footage beats all.