• The Paper Man

  • Sean O'Keefe
  • Available
  • Black List
  • 86.2
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Market: Mon, 17 Dec 2012
AgentDaniel Cohan, Jeff Gorin (WME)
ManagerBrian Lutz (Brian Lutz Management)
ProductionRoth Films
The true story of Matthias Sindelar, the Austrian footballer voted as the Sportsman of the Century and killed by Hitler’s Nazi party.
As Hitler sets his sights on invading Austria, an acclaimed Austrian soccer star finds himself playing for his life and country as a final game determines who lives and who dies.
Matthias Sindelar overcomes disability to become Austrias greatest footballer. He thrives on the pitch by avoiding contact, but is murdered by the Nazis after avoiding contact is no longer a moral option.
In the midst of the Nazis Anschluss of Austria, a famous and beloved football star must sacrifice everything to save his Jewish teammates and be a symbol of strength for the country he loves.
True story of Mathias Sindelar, Austrian Soccer player of the Century and his bitter end at the hands of Hitler's Nazi party.
Film
Film, Biopic, Drama, Romance, Period, Sports, War, Dark, Murder, Political, Tragedy, Foreign Locale, Disability, Survival, Inspirational
121
PG-13
High
M
White / European
33
Attractive
Invictus, Defiance, The Pianist, Miracle, The Inglourious Basterds, Schindler's List, X-Men: First Class, The Diary of Anne Frank
1933-1939, with a flashback to 30 years prior.
80% 1933-1939 Austria. Some trips to Germany, England and Rome. Specific locations: The Hofburg Palace, the Prater Stadion, the Vienna Opera House, Stamford Bridge Stadium in England, Victoria Train station, outside the Colosseum, and the Stadio Nazionale in Rome. Some scenes take place in a train, cars, and wooded areas. Riot and game scenes require hundreds of fans, activists, Nazi soldiers.
APRIL 3, 1938 VIENNA. A gas trap is set up in an apartment with all exits sealed.

1933, VIENNA. MATTHIAS SINDELAR (33), a lithe and fit football star of the Austrian national Wunderteam is adored by fans as the “Paper Man” and his billboards dominate. Sindelar and the Wunderteam play beautifully and musically. When the viscous Italian team re-injures Sindelar’s knee, he continues playing despite the pleas of COACH MEISL (50's), Jewish head coach. In a bordello, Sindelar gets morphine shots into his chronically injured knee.

Austria’s CHANCELLOR DOLLFUSS (Older Adult), diminutive but covered in medals, asks Sindelar to campaign for a united Austria in face of Hitler’s separatism. Sindelar is skeptical of Germany invasion and asks to be paid.

Sindelar takes CAMILLA (20s), raven-haired opera diva, on a date to Café Leopold. Camilla tells him how she escaped Mussolini’s militarization of the arts, but her husband was not so lucky.

In England, after the better-positioned Sindelar gets another pass, the second-best forward, HAHNEMANN (Late 20s), Aryan-leaning and spiteful, openly envies Sindelar and attacks solo - against Wunderteam strategy and losing the game. JAMES GIBSON (Older Adult), the owner of Manchester United, offers Sindelman immense wealth to play for MU....