The Blind Side Movie

After Julia Roberts turned down the starring role, executives at 20th Century Fox met with writer-director John Lee Hancock with a plan for "fixing" the script for his proposed movie "The Blind Side": Why not change the leading part from a pistol-packing Southern supermom to a man and redraft the film as a father-son story? It didn't matter that the film was based on the life of Leigh Anne Tuohy, a white Memphis interior decorator who along with her family adopted a 350-pound, homeless African American teenager, Michael Oher, and helped him become an academic success and football phenomenon who today starts for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

Extra points "The Blind Side" is no blockbuster overseas. The inspirational football drama that won Sandra Bullock an Academy Award shocked many in Hollywood by racking up $255.6 million at the domestic box office after its November debut. After several weeks in key foreign countries, however, it's performing much more modestly, selling $38.9-million worth of tickets. Top markets have included Australia, where it has grossed $11.4 million over seven weeks; Great Britain, where it collected $7 million in three weeks; and Germany, where it brought in $5 million over three weeks.

John Lee Hancock thought he was doing a great job of racing through a day of shooting earlier this year on "The Blind Side," the new film that stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a no-nonsense Memphis supermom who makes room in her life for Michael Oher, a homeless, 350-pound African American teenager who ended up becoming the Baltimore Ravens' first-round pick in this year's NFL draft. But when the real Leigh Anne showed up to visit the set, she found her patience flagging after a few hours.

After Julia Roberts turned down the starring role, executives at 20th Century Fox met with writer-director John Lee Hancock with a plan for "fixing" the script for his proposed movie "The Blind Side": Why not change the leading part from a pistol-packing Southern supermom to a man and redraft the film as a father-son story? It didn't matter that the film was based on the life of Leigh Anne Tuohy, a white Memphis interior decorator who along with her family adopted a 350-pound, homeless African American teenager, Michael Oher, and helped him become an academic success and football phenomenon who today starts for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.

Hollywood blockbusters aren't usually born in movie theaters in Dallas, Birmingham or Nashville. But that's exactly where "The Blind Side" has taken off -- a show-business phenomenon driven by audiences in the South and Midwest storming to a movie about Christian charity and football that stars Sandra Bullock. In one of the more extraordinary box-office stories of the year, writer-director John Lee Hancock's movie about Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher -- who as a homeless black teen was taken in and nurtured by a well-off, churchgoing white couple -- nearly toppled the smash sequel "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" at multiplexes in both films' second weekend of release.

It wasn't new and it wasn't in first place, but all eyes were on "The Blind Side" this weekend. Alcon Entertainment's uplifting football drama starring Sandra Bullock pulled off the rare feat of increasing ticket sales on its second weekend in wide release, nearly pulling off an upset and eclipsing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" to become No. 1. It was an unusual weekend all around at the box office, as none of the three new nationwide motion...

Michael Oher may be the focus of the new film "The Blind Side." But the Baltimore Raven isn't the film's only Baltimore connection. One of the songs on the soundtrack was written by SoulStice, a rapper and producer based in Columbia, Md. "It was a cool, different experience," said SoulStice, a 30-year-old whose real name is Ashley Llorens. Warner Bros. wanted a song to accompany a scene in which Oher returns to the rough-and-tumble Memphis, Tenn., neighborhood where he grew up, SoulStice said.

Extra points "The Blind Side" is no blockbuster overseas. The inspirational football drama that won Sandra Bullock an Academy Award shocked many in Hollywood by racking up $255.6 million at the domestic box office after its November debut. After several weeks in key foreign countries, however, it's performing much more modestly, selling $38.9-million worth of tickets. Top markets have included Australia, where it has grossed $11.4 million over seven weeks; Great Britain, where it collected $7 million in three weeks; and Germany, where it brought in $5 million over three weeks.

When I went to see "The Blind Side," I didn't expect it to heal the horseshoe-shaped scar I had almost forgotten. I went because I love Sandra Bullock; I had no idea Michael Oher, the subject of the film, played for Baltimore. I don't follow football anymore. I have not seen an entire professional football game in 25 years. See, I was born in Baltimore. Which meant that I was instantly, unequivocally and possibly legally born a Colts fan. When I was growing up, there was no escaping the Baltimore Colts.

When I went to see "The Blind Side," I didn't expect it to heal the horseshoe-shaped scar I had almost forgotten. I went because I love Sandra Bullock; I had no idea Michael Oher, the subject of the film, played for Baltimore. I don't follow football anymore. I have not seen an entire professional football game in 25 years. See, I was born in Baltimore. Which meant that I was instantly, unequivocally and possibly legally born a Colts fan. When I was growing up, there was no escaping the Baltimore Colts.

Michael Oher may be the focus of the new film "The Blind Side." But the Baltimore Raven isn't the film's only Baltimore connection. One of the songs on the soundtrack was written by SoulStice, a rapper and producer based in Columbia, Md. "It was a cool, different experience," said SoulStice, a 30-year-old whose real name is Ashley Llorens. Warner Bros. wanted a song to accompany a scene in which Oher returns to the rough-and-tumble Memphis, Tenn., neighborhood where he grew up, SoulStice said.

Hollywood blockbusters aren't usually born in movie theaters in Dallas, Birmingham or Nashville. But that's exactly where "The Blind Side" has taken off -- a show-business phenomenon driven by audiences in the South and Midwest storming to a movie about Christian charity and football that stars Sandra Bullock. In one of the more extraordinary box-office stories of the year, writer-director John Lee Hancock's movie about Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher -- who as a homeless black teen was taken in and nurtured by a well-off, churchgoing white couple -- nearly toppled the smash sequel "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" at multiplexes in both films' second weekend of release.

It wasn't new and it wasn't in first place, but all eyes were on "The Blind Side" this weekend. Alcon Entertainment's uplifting football drama starring Sandra Bullock pulled off the rare feat of increasing ticket sales on its second weekend in wide release, nearly pulling off an upset and eclipsing "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" to become No. 1. It was an unusual weekend all around at the box office, as none of the three new nationwide motion...

John Lee Hancock thought he was doing a great job of racing through a day of shooting earlier this year on "The Blind Side," the new film that stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a no-nonsense Memphis supermom who makes room in her life for Michael Oher, a homeless, 350-pound African American teenager who ended up becoming the Baltimore Ravens' first-round pick in this year's NFL draft. But when the real Leigh Anne showed up to visit the set, she found her patience flagging after a few hours.