Lionsgate has acquired the rights to the spec script 48 Hours in Vegas, according to Deadline. The movie will be inspired by Dennis Rodman’s infamous adventures in Sin City, this time taking place during the 1998 NBA Finals (more on that in a second) that he was actively participating in as a member of the Chicago Bulls. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are producing.
Deadline writes that the film will see Rodman paired with his “skittish assistant GM,” and that the story will “detail a budding friendship that neither one of them ever thought was possible but will end up solving both of their problems.”
Rodman will be credited as an executive producer.
“There’s only one Dennis Rodman. In 1998, there was nobody on Earth who’d be more fun – or maybe more dangerous – to party with. And yet that’s not even half of who he is,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane in a statement. “This movie takes you on an unforgettable ride with the myth, the legend, and also the man that Dennis is, behind everything you think you know.”
In the same release Kahane added that “Dennis, whose amazing career and life will make for an off-the-wall hilarious yet completely human and emotional movie. You think you know anything about ’The Worm’? Just you wait!”
Rodman’s escapades in Vegas got a renewed bump of interest from the public after they were mentioned (and then heavily commented upon) on the second night of the five-night/10-part Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance, which aired on ESPN last year. Note that his hiatus actually took place in January (not during the Finals) which you may have been confused about. That seems like something that could be chalked up to creative license making for a more dramatic narrative, or perhaps an early detail that hasn’t been finalized:
The script for the movie was written by Jordan VanDina. Deadline reports that when the screenplay hit the market Lionsgate was immediately interested, and that the film studio pushed hard to get the rights to it.
VanDina’s past writing credits include Animaniacs and The Binge.
In addition to the statement above, Lord and Miller also put out formal words regarding the development.
“Dennis refused to follow the herd,” they said. “That is what made him a target and it’s also what made him a star. His weekend in Las Vegas is full of fun and high jinks but it is also full of important questions about the way public figures, and workers are treated, especially when their individuality is expressed so vividly.”
