NBA shopping a 10-hour Michael Jordan documentary | Page Six
Michael Jordan — the greatest basketball player of all time — is too big for a normal two-hour biopic.
The NBA and CAA (Creative Artists Agency) are shopping a 10-hour authorized documentary about Jordan. Production has not yet started, but the film will mostly be about His Airness’ comeback in the late ’90s (after his stint playing baseball), when he won three of his six championship rings.
The producing team is led by Mike Tollin, who spearheaded ESPN’s acclaimed “30 for 30” series and is partners with Peter Guber in Mandalay Sports Media. The project has been pitched to ESPN, Showtime, HBO and Fox Sports, and Jordan’s reps are looking for a deal somewhere north of $20 million.
Brooklyn-born Jordan, 53, principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets, is credited with turning the NBA into a global phenomenon and himself into a marketing icon whose Air Jordan shoes have made billions of dollars for Nike.
The documentary will cover Jordan’s bizarre retirement from basketball to play professional baseball, the tragic murder of his father, and his triumphant comeback. It is expected the film will gloss over his love of gambling.
The success of ESPN’s eight-hour O.J. Simpson documentary earlier this year is said to have convinced Jordan that the time is right for his life story.
