What does John Malkovich have to do with the late race horse Secretariat?
Get ready for the sports waterworks, folks. Back in June, Jenni Miller wrote about the latest horse racing drama to cook up — Secretariat, with Diane Lane attached to play the thoroughbred’s owner, Penny Chenery. Now the major players are in place, and there’s no doubt that Disney is prepping this is a big sports drama. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Dylan Walsh, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn have joined the production, which began shooting this week. Secretariat was the horse that broke a 25-year Triple Crown dry spell, setting world records and winning the final Belmont Stakes with an eye-goggling 31-length win (in other words, so far ahead that the horses behind look teeny). He’s pretty much the horse amongst race fans, and is known for having the biggest recorded heart (22 lbs). But it all started with a coin toss. THR says Glenn will play “a southern-bred aristocrat who loses the horse in a coin toss,” although that’s not quite how it plays out. Glenn must be Ogden Phipps, a
Tue Sep 22, 4:02 pm ET LOS ANGELES (AFP) – John Malkovich is to star in a drama based around the Triple Crown-winning exploits of legendary US racehorse Secretariat, it was reported on Tuesday. Malkovich, 55, whose recent films have included “Burn After Reading” and “Changeling,” will play Lucien Laurin, the Canadian former jockey who trained Secretariat to glory in 1973, Daily Variety reported. The Triple Crown is made up of the three most prestigious races on the US calendar — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Only 11 horses have ever won all three races in the same year, with Affirmed the last horse to win the coveted treble in 1978. Variety reported that the film would focus on the relationship between the horse and its owner Penny Chenery, to be played by Diane Lane. Sources: http://news.yahoo.
It’s back to the 1970s for Churchill Downs, where scenes from the forthcoming Walt Disney Studio motion picture “Secretariat” will be filmed starting Monday. The paddock area and grandstand will be made to look like 1973, the year Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in a track record time of 1:59 2/5 and went on to win the Triple Crown. The new movie includes Diane Lane starring as owner Penny Chenery and John Malkovich as trainer Lucien Laurin. Sources: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/10/secretariat-movie-comes-to-churchill-downs.
