On January 28th the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized after complications from his gruesome break of one of his rear forelegs at last year’s Preakness resulting in an eight-month ordeal. Now, six months later, Universal is ready to move on the story. I guess they think that with it fresh in our minds we feel the need to relive it right away.
Peter Berg is set to direct the film based on the Vanity Fair article, “Gone Like the Wind,” which focuses on the attempt by owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson, trainer Michael Matz and veterinary surgeon Dean Richardson to come up with a humane way to stabilize the injury and keep the horse alive. The country rallied around the horse, but it was euthanized nearly eight months after being injured.
Buzz Bissinger penned the article and there is no word on who will adapt it. An interesting trivia bit is that Berg is Bissinger’s cousin and wrote “Friday Night Lights,” which Berg directed an adaptation of in 2004.
