56Moneyball (2011)

In another great adaptation of another great Michael Lewis book, the use of statistical analysis to evaluate baseball players morphed into the compelling story of an underdog taking a swing against the system. The project endured a changing rotation of writers and directors for so long, everyone in Hollywood expected the film to flop. “The reason that this particular book was difficult to adapt is because you want to somehow recreate the experience of reading the book, which goes in and out of time, explanation of sabermetrics, and a lot of the historical context,” producer Rachel Horovitz noted in an interview with KQED. “It was a harder script to get down than most.” It took the screenwriting might of Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, working on separate drafts that were eventually combined, to hit Moneyball out of the park.