A story this morning in the Buffalo News is exciting for the city of Cleveland, and Browns fans. It appears Cleveland was chosen over Buffalo as the location for a new movie called “Draft Day” which will star Kevin Costner and be directed by Ivan Reitman.
“A furious fourth-quarter rally mounted by New York State officials – including a top aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo – has fallen short in keeping the film “Draft Day” in Buffalo.
The movie, which was to depict Kevin Costner as a fictitious Buffalo Bills general manager trying to restore his team to past glory, will now be shot in Cleveland instead, with the actor portraying the Cleveland Browns GM.
The big reason, said Tim Clark, who heads the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission, was economics.
“At the end of the day, it was a money thing. I think Mr. [Ivan] Reitman really wanted to shoot here, but it just came down to the cost factor. What we were told is that the Cleveland incentives were better,” Clark said.”
Principal photography is supposed to begin filming next month at the NFL draft in Radio City Music Hall.
The movie was apparently in danger of never being made, with executives claiming it was unmarketable- especially outside of America.
Here is a description of the story-
“The story, which centers around Costner’s character bustling around on draft day trying to trade the first pick of the draft into a series of better players for his flailing team, isn’t just a football-centric story. There are relationship aspects as well, with the GM’s family baggage popping up occasionally and, of course, a few surprising romantic developments as well. Sounds like a nice Moneyball-esque comedy that might concentrate a bit more on heart than pure numbers, and a great return to form for Costner, who hasn’t made a true sports film since 1999′s For Love of the Game.”
[Related: Michael Lombardi to have title changed to GM]
(Tip of the hat to Dawg Pound Daily)
