Reinaldo Marcus Green, the director behind King Richard, is taking on another iconic life story. Teton Ridge Entertainment has set Green to write, direct and produce a feature film celebrating the life and legacy of Roberto Clemente, the beloved Puerto Rican MLB all-star and Pittsburgh Pirate legend.
Clemente spent 18 seasons with the Pirates and is one of only 33 batters in history to record 3,000 hits. A devoted philanthropist off the field, his life was tragically cut short on December 31, 1972, at age 38, when he was killed in a plane crash while personally delivering aid to earthquake victims in Managua, Nicaragua.
“Growing up Black and Puerto Rican in New York, Clemente was always there,” Green said. “Not just a great player. Proof that you give everything on every single play, on and off the field, until the day he died trying to help people he’d never even met. That’s the story I want to tell.”
The film will be produced by Ben Silverman, Jay Weisleder, Chiara Bernasconi and Strike Three Films, with Jen Gorton and Brandon Mattingly overseeing for Teton Ridge Entertainment. A previous draft of the script was written by Jaquén Castellanos.
Green’s involvement comes after Teton Ridge recently secured a decisive court victory confirming its exclusive control of Clemente’s life rights. The Los Angeles Superior Court granted summary judgment in favor of Teton Ridge, dismissing all claims brought by production company Inside the Park, LLC. In addition to the life rights, Teton Ridge has acquired the rights to David Maraniss’ definitive biography Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero and partnered with the Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh, granting the production exclusive access to the world’s largest collection of Clemente memorabilia.
“My family and I are proud to see Teton Ridge Entertainment working on our father’s life story,” said Roberto Clemente Jr. “We believe my father’s story deserves to be told with the integrity and excellence he always embodied.”
Green’s career has been defined by high-profile biopics. His debut feature Monsters and Men won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance, leading to King Richard starring Will Smith, which earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and won Smith the Oscar for Best Actor. He most recently directed Bob Marley: One Love, a global box office hit. On television, his credits include HBO’s We Own This City, Netflix’s Top Boy and Marvel’s The Punisher: One Last Kill. He is currently also developing a Tiger Woods biopic produced by Irwin Winkler and Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground.