By Dave McNary
Paramount Pictures is developing a movie about motorcyle daredevil Evel Knievel and has set up the project with Rachel Winter, Terence Winter and LBI Entertainment.
William Monahan, who won an Oscar for adapted screenplay for “The Departed,” will write the script, based on the Sheldon Saltman book “Evel Knievel On Tour.” Producers optioned the rights to the book, which recaps Saltman’s promotion of the Snake River Canyon rocket-cycle jump by Knievel.
Publication of the book in 1977 outraged Knievel, who asserted the book misled the public about himself and his family. A few weeks after the release of “On Tour,” Knievel went onto the Fox lot, where Saltman was a VP, and broke Saltman’s arm with a baseball bat.
Terence Winter is the creator of “Boardwalk Empire,” and the screenwriter for “The Wolf Of Wall Street.” Rachel Winter is producer of “Dallas Buyers Club.”
Sony has been developing a separate Knievel project as a possible starring vehicle for Channing Tatum through his Free Association production company.
Knievel, who died in 2007, was most famous for the failed 1974 jump across Snake River Canyon. During his career he suffered more than 433 bone fractures.
The news about the Paramount project was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
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