Starz picks up drama on Shohei Ohtani’s former

After 18 months of purchasing the script, the proposed Lionsgate Television collection based on the playing scandal involving Dodgers celebrity Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is in development at Starz.

The project will highlight the audacious theft by Ippei Mizuhara of $16 million from Ohtani to repay staggering playing money owed. Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers after the crimes got here to gentle in March 2024. A 12 months later, he was convicted of defrauding Ohtani in federal court and sentenced to 57 months in prison.

The collection will probably be produced by Tony Award winner Scott Delman, identified for “The Book of Mormon” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” and sports activities journalist Albert Chen. Alex Convery, who wrote “Air,” is on board as showrunner and screenwriter while Justin Lin (the  “Fast and Furious” franchise) will direct, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“This is Major League Baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose — and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen said in a assertion to The Times. “We’ll get to the heart of the story — a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame.”

Lionsgate was having bother promoting the project to firms with media rights agreements with Major League Baseball — Disney, Warner Bros., Discovery, Apple, Netflix and Comcast — because the businesses didn’t need to jeopardize their relationships with the league, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Lionsgate is the former guardian company of Starz, but the 2 formally separated in May.

The story unquestionably is compelling. Mizuhara befriended Ohtani in Japan when the participant who would grow to be the most completed hitting and pitching mixture in baseball historical past was an 18-year-old rookie with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Ohtani got here to the United States in 2018 at age 23, signing with the Angels. Mizuhara soon turned his most trusted good friend and interpreter, serving as an middleman between Ohtani and almost everybody who spoke English, including the media, his agent and Angels officers.

Mizuhara organized wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account without the participant’s information or permission and impersonated him during more than two dozen cellphone calls with bank staff, all to feed a playing behavior that gathered $40 million in losses across hundreds of bets.

Mizuhara allegedly collected $142 million in winnings but misplaced about $183 million.

Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700-million contract with the Dodgers in December 2023 and the scandal got here to gentle three months later. Ohtani was absolved of wrongdoing and described as a sufferer by federal authorities.

“Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies,” Ohtani said through his new interpreter, Will Ireton, shortly after Mizuhara was arrested. “I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker.

“I’m just beyond shocked. It’s really hard to verbalize how I am feeling at this point.”

Ohtani rapidly put the episode behind him, main the Dodgers to World Series championships in 2024 and 2025. He was named National League Most Valuable Player both years.