The dramatic retelling of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his translator’s gambling scandal is officially in development at Starz.
Alex Convery, who wrote the Michael Jordan-Nike movie “Air,” will write, executive produce and showrun the untitled series from Lionsgate TV. Justin Lin of the “Fast & Furious” franchise will direct, co-write and executive produce with Steven Prinz for Perfect Storm Entertainment.
The series will give an inside look into the story behind the MLB MVP’s meteoric rise — including his mammoth 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers — which was disrupted when his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani to gamble and pay his own gambling debts.
The Starz series will follow the translator as he “journeys from unemployed drifter to international icon only to find himself tangled in a gambling scandal that rocked the sports world.”
Ohtani’s former interpreter pled guilty to bank fraud and tax fraud in June 2024 after admitting to stealing millions from the Dodgers star player. From December 2021 to January 2024, the interpreter allegedly lost more than $40 million across 19,000 illegal sports bets. He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for embezzlement and may face deportation to his home country of Japan.
Scott Delman (“Station Eleven”) will executive produce the series with “Billion Dollar Fantasy” author Albert Chen. Chen’s financial thriller told the true story behind the clash of billion dollar companies FanDuel and DraftKings that upended American sports viewing.
Convery is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment. Lin is repped by CAA and Weber Offer Dern.
