Twelve year old thesp, Daryl Sabara, of "Spy Kids" fame, is attached to star in "Derby" for Tite-Belt Productions, LLC. Oliver Robins will direct from his own script.
The family film is set in the late sixties. It revolves around a young boy named "Bobby"(Sabara) who, in the wake of losing his family in an accident, is taken in by his aunt and uncle who live in a small town where soap box racing is the sport of choice for local youth. His new guardians, however, disapprove of the pastime. So, despite warnings of danger, the boy befriends a recluse Vietnam Veteran and former Soap Box Derby champion who mentors him and teaches him the ways of soap box racing while also helping him deal with the loss of his parents.
The tradition of Soap Box racing goes back to 1937 when it became a national past time in which boys would race their engineless go carts down hills to compete in local, regional, and national competitions. Robins, a former child actor himself, having starred in Poltergeist and its first sequel among other films, is a graduate of USC film school. His previous directorial efforts, "Dumped," which he wrote, and "Wild Roomies" which he co-wrote, were released to DVD in 2001 and 2004, respectively.
Thanks to 'Bay'.
