The story of Hammerinâ Hank is coming to the big screen.  Variety reports that producers Mike Tollin and Glenn Rigberg have acquired the rights to baseball great Hank Aaronâs life story.  Furthermore, theyâve set The Natural director Barry Levinson to helm from a script by Adam Mazer (Empire State). The story will be based on Howard Bryantâs book The Last Hero: The Life Story of Henry Aaron and âwill follow the right fielderâs chase of Babe Ruthâs home run record from 1972 to 1974.  Spoiler alert: Aaron finally eclipsed Ruthâs record with his 715th home run in April of 1974. Hit the jump for more.This isnât the only baseball biopic in the works, as Jackie Robinsonâs story is being brought to life in 42.  The film chronicles Robinson and Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickeyâs work to eradicate segregation in baseball, with Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford set as Robinson and Rickey, respectively. Levinson has been hit and miss as of late, but Iâm excited to see him returning to familiar territory. He won the Oscar for Best Director with 1988âs Rain Man, and heâs recently been working on bringing Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father to the screen.That project has had trouble getting off the ground, but if I had to choose between Levinson's Gotti movie and Levinson's Hank Aaron movie, I'd go with Aaron every day of the week. Hopefully casting gets underway soon and production can start some time this year. I've embedded a video of Aaron talking about his career during a recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman below.
THE NATURAL Director Barry Levinson to Helm Hank Aaron Biopic
Barry Levinson to Direct Hank Aaron Biopic. The Natural director Barry Levinson will direct a movie based on the life of Hank Aaron.