RACING LEGEND: Diane Lane, center, Nelsan Ellis, Otto Thorwarth and John… (Disney Enterprises )
It didn't look like Secretariat could pull it off. Coming out of the gate at the 1973 Kentucky Derby, the chestnut colt fell behind all but two horses and dropped more than nine lengths off the leaders down the backstretch. Under the whip from jockey Ron Turcotte, the thoroughbred suddenly blitzed the field, winning the Derby and the nation's adoration.
FOR THE RECORD: "Secretariat": An article about the movie "Secretariat" in the Oct. 3 Calendar section reported that Disney distributes movies from Marvel Studios. Although Walt Disney Co. owns Marvel Entertainment, films from Marvel Studios are distributed by Paramount Pictures.
That stirring come-from-behind race — the opening leg in the horse's ridiculously lopsided Triple Crown triumph, the first such sweep in 25 years — is at the center of "Secretariat," a Disney drama opening Friday about the legendary equine, unconventional owner Penny Chenery ( Diane Lane) and eccentric trainer Lucien Laurin ( John Malkovich).
It's the kind of feel-good family film — "Secretariat" is rated PG — that evokes the quintessential Disney films of the era it's set in: "Freaky Friday," "Pete's Dragon" and "The Love Bug." At the same time, the movie recalls the studio's rousing sports dramas of the past decade, a slate that includes "The Rookie," "Remember the Titans" and "Miracle."
Disney's new top executives believe "Secretariat," a project begun by their predecessors, distills their creative and commercial ambitions, and they are promising to make more modestly budgeted, uplifting films in its hoofprints.
"It's a movie that speaks to who we are today and where we are going," studio chief Rich Ross said of the film, which features a gospel song and a Bible quote and has evident heartland appeal – the perfect inspirational film, he believes, for these recessionary times.
Nearly a year after Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger fired studio chief Dick Cook and replaced him with Ross, a cable television veteran, the movie company is assembling a film lineup that in many ways looks like the Disney of yesterday. The studio has stumbled recently with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," "Step Up 3D" and "You Again," films that were inherited from Cook's regime but marketed by Ross' team.
"A quote was shared with me from Steve Jobs, who said: 'When you have a brand, it's like a bank account. With every offering, you're either making a withdrawal or a deposit on the brand,'" said new production President Sean Bailey, referring to the Apple boss, who is also Disney's largest individual shareholder. "I feel like these kinds of movies are real brand deposits."
Directed by "Braveheart" screenwriter Randall Wallace and written by "The Rookie's" Mike Rich, "Secretariat" was produced by former major league pitcher Mark Ciardi and partner Gordon Gray. Ciardi and Gray, who had previously produced the hockey movie "Miracle" and the football story "Invincible," had wanted to make a film about Volponi, the 44-1 longshot winner of the 2002 Breeders' Cup. Ciardi, Gray and Rich had discussed making a movie about Secretariat — arguably a better horse than racing legends Seabiscuit, Kelso, Citation and Man o'War — "but we didn't know what the story was," Gray said, adding that there was no suspense "because he killed everybody."
Rich, who previously had written "Radio" and "Finding Forrester," films focused on overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, did research and decided that the most dramatic Secretariat movie would focus on Chenery, a Denver housewife and mother of four who took over her father's Meadow Farm. Under her leadership, the farm turned out Secretariat and, a year earlier, Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge. "The story came together pretty clearly," Ciardi said.
The movie itself, though, faced several obstacles. Disney said it would make "Secretariat" only if Julia Roberts or Jodie Foster would agree to play Chenery. What's more, Cook and production president Oren Aviv didn't want Wallace to spend more than $35 million — less than half of what Universal committed to 2003's "Seabiscuit." When Roberts and Foster passed, Wallace was able to persuade the studio to hire Lane, who hadn't been in a $100-million grossing movie since "The Perfect Storm" in 2000.
In a way, the studio was mimicking the strategy that Cook and Aviv used on "The Proposal," which originally was offered to Roberts. When the "Pretty Woman" star passed, Disney cast Sandra Bullock in her place (saving several million dollars along the way), and "The Proposal" grossed more than $300 million worldwide.
"Penny has a well of dignity and quiet strength. And I believe Diane had that quality, that you wouldn't see how tough she was until you punched her," Wallace said. "The exterior was soft and genteel and the interior was steel, and that's what I thought Penny needed to be."
