Sony Drops the Ball on "Moneyball"

According to Daily Variety, Columbia Pictures has canceled production on Steven Soderbergh's Brad Pitt vehicle, "Moneyball," just hours before shooting was to begin.

According to Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, the film has been placed on "limited turnaround," meaning Soderbergh will be allowed to shop it around to other studios.

Already Warner Bros. and Paramount have expressed interest in the project, but if Soderbergh is unable to find a financier by tomorrow, Columbia may re-examine the script, replace Soderbergh as director and or delay the film until Pascal is "in synch" with the script.

According to Pascal, the main reason for putting the brakes on the script is the inconsistency between the current script and earlier ones, which made her uncomfortable with Soderbergh's overall vision for the film.

Their decision comes only 96 hours before shooting was to begin with Pitt, comedian Demitri Martin and former Oakland A's Scott Hattesburg and David Justice. But it's not the first time Columbia has pulled the plug on the production of a film.

In 2008, the studio called off production on the movie, "State of Play," after Pitt reneged on a "pay or play" deal that would have earned him $20 million. Following a series of crises involving screenwriters and actors on the set, Ben Affleck was recast as Congressman Stephen Collins.

Based on the book by journalist Michael Lewis, "Moneyball" is Billy Beane, a ballplayer for the Oakland A's who became the teams g.m. and transformed it into a cost-effective outlet that fielded competitive teams for cheaper than what many higher-priced teams were commanding during his tenure in the late '90s and early 2000s.