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| Harvey (actually from Barton Fink) |
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| Aaron Sorkin |
INT. BIG SHOT PRODUCER'S OFFICE - LATE AFTERNOON
It is the afternoon of the Oscars. Harvey, a powerful
producer, paces back and forth as Aaron Sorkin, one of the
writers of Moneyball, is led into the room. As they are
both heading to the Oscars, both are in tuxedos.
HARVEY
Aaron. How are you? Listen to me,
what sort of question is that?
You're up for an Oscar tonight!
You must be a nervous wreck!
Sorkin sits calmly in the chair in front of Harvey.
SORKIN
Not really. I've already got an
Oscar, two Critic's Choice Awards,
four Emmy's, a Golden Globe...
Sorkin is rattling off his awards. Harvey cuts him off.
Harvey doesn't care.
HARVEY
Right. You've been there before,
and done that. You're a winner,
and everybody loves a winner.
SORKIN
(calmly)
Thank you.
HARVEY
Do you know what everyone loves
more than a winner? They love a
winner that repeats, and in the
movies, we call those sequels.
SORKIN
Harvey, I don't do sequels.
HARVEY
Oh, don't give me all that
artsy-fartsy crap about how sequels
are just a crass excuse for movie
studios to drain every last penny
out of a franchise and how it
represents the lack of imagination
in Hollywood.
SORKIN
Pretty much.
HARVEY
You could change all that. Hell,
you made people being on computer
sexy, if anyone can do it, you can.
Sorkin is starting to bite. Flattery will get you
everywhere.
SORKIN
It would have to be an entirely
different angle...
HARVEY
(excited)
Exactly! Moneyball II - Let's Go
Mets!
SORKIN
Let's Go Mets?
HARVEY
Listen, you know how the Mets are
all into this moneyball thing now,
since the owner is all tied up in
this crazy divorce....
SORKIN
That's Frank McCourt with the
Dodgers.
HARVEY
Right. Well, Fred Wilpon used to
own the Dodgers, so it's all
connected.
SORKIN
Wilpon never owned the Dodgers.
HARVEY
You sure? There's all that Dodger
stuff at Citi Field.
SORKIN
I can see where the confusion lies,
but no, he never owned the Dodgers,
and their money problems come from
the Madoff scandal, not a divorce.
HARVEY
Hey, a good scandal is a good
scandal, right? Maybe we throw in
a divorce thing for spice. In any
case, they got money problems, and
its time to bring in Moneyball!
SORKIN
Sandy Alderson, the GM, used to
work in Oakland, but he's not Billy
Beane.
HARVEY
Alderson. Beane. Divorce.
Madoff. You just mix it all up,
and if you mix it all up the way
you do, it comes out a winner.
It's not like you didn't make stuff
up in Moneyball.
SORKIN
We didn't make stuff up. We took
artistic license.
HARVEY
Exactly, artistic license. You already got that license,
why not use it?
Lets just say they bring in Beane,
or Brad Pitt plays Alderson,
whatever. The point is, they're
losing, they got no money, their
fans got no hope. They need
something big.
SORKIN
You can't just switch Alderson for
Beane.
HARVEY
Why not? What's the difference?
Neither one of them ever won a
championship.
SORKIN
Look, even if we brought him in as
Alderson, you don't have the Peter
Brand character, you don't have Art
Howe...
HARVEY
Why not? The Mets could bring in
Howe. That's brilliant!
SORKIN
They did that once. It didn't work
out.
HARVEY
Too bad. We still have Phillip
Seymour Hoffman under contract.
SORKIN
Look, Harvey, I'm good. I'm very
good. If anyone could pull this
off, I could. I just don't see it.
HARVEY
Why?
SORKIN
It's like Rocky. It's okay that he
got eliminated in the first movie,
but he would have to win the second
one, and no one is going to buy
that the 2012 Mets are going to the
World Series.
Harvey sinks into his chair.
HARVEY
You got a point. Too bad. Even
Hollywood couldn't come up with
that happy ending.

















































