That didn’t take long.
Less than two months after ESPN broke news that Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani’s now former interpreter and confidant, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly stole millions of dollars to pay off gambling debts, Lionsgate Television is developing a scripted series exploring the scandal.
Scott Delman (Station Eleven)and Albert Chen (author of Billion Dollar Fantasy, a book about gambling companies DraftKings and FanDuel) are teaming to produce an untitled scripted drama for the studio. The potential series, which is in its early development stages and does not yet have a network or streaming home, will chronicle the rise of the Japanese superstar and his record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A day after the 2024 MLB season opened — and while the team was in Japan for a series against the San Diego Padres — shockwaves went through the league after news broke that Mizuhara allegedly stole $16 million from Ohtani.
The pitcher and designated hitter who is fresh off winning two straight unanimous MVP awards has captivated U.S. fans as well as his Japanese diehards with his ability to be a two-way player in the vein of all-time great Babe Ruth.
The Dodgers fired Mizuhara immediately after the allegations surfaced. On May 8, Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of felony bank fraud and submitting a false tax return. Authorities found that he stole nearly $17 million from Ohtani to pay off gambling debts he incurred with an illegal sportsbook. Major League Baseball prohibits players and team employees from using illegal bookmakers. The gambling scandal has been the biggest to impact MLB since Pete Rose bet on the Cincinnati Reds during his time as the team’s manager. (Rose remains banned from MLB.)
“With a strong track record of creating daring, boundary-pushing series, Lionsgate Television is the perfect partner to bring this unbelievable story to the screen,” said Delman. “In addition, Albert’s extensive sports journalism background will enable us to connect the dots to make sense of the startling turn of events we’ve seen play out on the world stage.”
Chen co-created the award-winning sports podcast All-American and has written for Time, Fortune and Sports Illustrated. He covered baseball and wrote more than a dozen cover stories during his time as a senior editor for SI and has been a contributor to MLB Network.
“This is major league baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose — and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen said. “We’ll get to the heart of the story — a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame.”
Delman, for his part, produced Broadway hits including The Book of Mormon, Death of a Salesman and The Ferryman, among others.
This is the first Ohtani scripted series to land in development after the global superstar broke out to be the face of Major League Baseball after arriving here from Japan when he signed with the Los Angeles Angels in late 2017. The famously private Ohtani is currently leading baseball in batting average and hits and is tied for second in home runs as he attempts to become one of the few players to win MVP in both the National League and American League.
Lionsgate TV, meanwhile, is also developing an English-language adapation of Park Chan-wook’s film, Oldboy, among other projects. Lionsgate TV’s senior vp scripted TV Max Elins will oversee the project for the studio; the company’s television business affairs exec director Bryan Weiser negotiated the deal.