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Matthew McConaughey-starrer Dallas Sting, which could have told the story of how the US got its first women's soccer team, was scrapped by Skydance and other producers after reports of "disturbing allegations: against certain aspects of the true story" emerged in the media.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to break the news on Dallas Sting and reported that both Skydance and Berlanti Schechter Productions received "disturbing allegations" against the film.
While the publication did not disclose details about the nature of the disturbing allegations, it noted that an apparent investigation led to Skydance and other producers backing off the project.
Read on to learn more about Dallas Sting and the clout around the project.
What was Dallas Sting going to be about?
Dallas Sting was supposed to document the founding of the first-ever women's soccer team in the United States and how it went on to compete in international championships, becoming the first soccer team to do so.
During Ronald Reagan's presidency, the US opened up to China and, to expand its relationship with the South-Asian country, accepted the latter's invitation to the first ever FIFA tournament for women's national teams.
The soccer team that calls itself the Sting, taken from the 1973 film The Sting, came from a Dallas high school team and has represented the US on several international platforms. It was also the country's first women's soccer team to travel outside of the US.
It was founded by Bill Kinder, who also served as the team's coach when it went to China despite not having any prior coaching experience. As per reports, Kinder had paid $85,000 from his credit cards to book non-refundable air tickets for the team to get to China in 1984.
Not only that, Kinder had to get a note from a gynecologist asserting that the sport would not harm the female team members' reproductive organs for their families, Deadline reported.
At the championship, Sting beat established national teams from countries like Australia, Japan, and China to advance to the finals. Sting beat Italy in the championship game, becoming the first American team, male or female, to win a major international tournament.
Why was Dallas Sting scrapped by its producers?
The inspirational tale of a team of women needed to be told and was six weeks away from production before it was scrapped by producers Skydance and Berlanti Schechter Productions.
Skydance and other producers had bought the rights to an unpublished article by Flinder Boyd at an auction, which was supposed to serve as the basis for the script of the now stalled film. Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch were tasked with turning the article into a script for the film that was to be directed by Kari Skogland.
McConaughey was brought on board to essay Kinder's role, while Kaitlyn Dever was cast to play his daughter in the film.
But the producers backed off from the project after certain undisclosed disturbing allegations were made in regards to the true aspects of the story. It remains to be seen if Dallas Sting will be able to find a home elsewhere.
