Universal Television has optioned Peter Lefcourt’s acclaimed 1992 darkly comic novel “The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story,” which deals with homophobia in professional baseball, for development as a major television series.
Oscar winner David Frankel (“The Devil Wears Prada”) is attached to direct and will co-write the pilot with Lefcourt with both to executive produce.
The story follows star shortstop Randy Dreyfus, a happily married father of two who falls in love with his second baseman in the middle of a pennant race. The affair creates reverberations for the World Series.
An attempt was made to adapt the project before back in the very early 2000s with a then late 20’s Ben Affleck playing Dreyfus and Betty Thomas (“Private Parts,” “Troop Beverly Hills”) directing, but the pair couldn’t get the financing for the project.
Issues of sexual identity and orientation have come a long way in the culture since then but professional sports remains one of the few arenas firmly trapped in old school values with very few openly gay athletes.
Source: Deadline
