'Moneyball' rolls again with Sorkin, Pitt

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. filmmaker Steven Soderbergh will not direct the big-screen adaptation of Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" as planned.

The Oscar-winning director of "Traffic," "Ocean's 11" and "Che" reportedly was at odds with the Sony studio regarding the movie's screenplay.

Variety.com said Soderbergh has dropped out of "Moneyball," and "The West Wing" and "Sports Night" mastermind Aaron Sorkin has been hired to re-write an early script by Steve Zaillian.

Despite Soderbergh's departure, Brad Pitt is still expected to star in the baseball picture, which had been slated to start filming last month, but was stalled after Soderbergh presented the studio with a script for a documentary-style version of the movie Sony felt lacked commercial appeal, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.

The report did not indicate who might direct the movie after Sorkin completes his draft this summer.