John Ridley’s Vince Lombardi film debut to coincide with Super Bowl 50

Academy Award winner John Ridley announced this week on Rich Eisen’s show that he would be releasing a new film about legendary coach Vince Lombardi to coincide with the celebration surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl next year.

Ridley, a writer and director who has worked in both film and television, is a heavyweight when it comes to accolades in both those fields.

His work is extensive and impressive (see his accomplishments below) and for him to tackle a project like this is something near and dear to his heart.

A Wisconsinite and fan of the Green Bay Packers, Ridley was clearly excited about the Lombardi announcement, which he made public for the first time on Eisen’s show.

Using a football metaphor, Ridley said it was “first and goal,” but that he still had to deliver a product that would reach the end zone,

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Many books, including this one, have been written about Vince Lombardi. The film being written by John Ridley will be released next year around the time of Super Bowl 50

“I was very fortunate – TriBeCa Films, which is Robert DeNiro’s company asked me to write the Vince Lombardi story. So next year CBS, if all goes according to plan … fiftieth anniversary of the Super Bowl … Super Bowl weekend we’ll have a film from Trifecta … about Vince Lombardi.”

Ridley explained that this won’t be a “grade-to-grave” life story about Lombardi, but will be about the “man, community and football in that ’60-’61 season. They lost previously in the championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles, they played in the ’61 game against New York, which is where Lombardi came from … it was also the first year of play of the AFL, so it was the beginning of that run toward the modern NFL, the modern era … and what that team had to do to overcome themselves and overcome the circumstances … it was the beginning of that legendary run for the Packers of the championships into the Super Bowl and Vince Lombardi cementing his place as the great sports legend of our time.”

Eisen concluded the interview by stating he couldn’t wait to see the piece coming next year … saying exactly what every Packers fan … every football fan has got to be thinking at this point.

Ridley’s most well-known work is the writing which earned him an Academy Award for “12 Years a Slave.” The Oscar he won for that film was in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.

In addition to the work he is slated to complete for next year’s Super Bowl, Ridley is also involved in the writing for a new version of “Ben Hur” that’s in production and scheduled for release in 2016.

He has also worked on the recently inaugurated television series, “American Crime.”

As published on Wikipedia, here is John Ridley’s extensive body of work, as well as the awards he has won and for which he’s been nominated over the years:

Filmography

Movies

Television

Works and publications

Novels

• Ridley, John.  New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. iSBN 978-0-345-41345-1
• Ridley, John.  New York: Knopf, 1998. ISBN 978-0-375-40142-8
• Ridley, John.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. ISBN 978-0-375-40143-5
• Ridley, John.  New York: Warner Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-446-52836-8
• Ridley, John.  New York: Knopf, 2002. ISBN 978-0-375-41182-3
• Ridley, John.  New York: Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0-446-53093-4
• Ridley, John, and Patricia R. Floyd.  Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2011, 2007. ISBN 978-1-456-10151-0

Graphic novels

• Ridley, John, and Ben Oliver.  La Jolla, CA: WildStorm Productions, 2004. 978-1-401-20070-1
• Ridley, John.  DC Comics. 2005.
• Ridley, John, Georges Jeanty, and Karl C. Story.  La Jolla, Calif: WildStorm/DC Comics, 2007. ISBN 978-1-401-21256-8

Stage plays

• Ridley, John. Ten Thousand Years. 2005 (world premiere).

Essays

• Ridley, John. “The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger.” , December 2006, Volume 146, Issue 6.

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