Like many of us, Chris Wondolowski grew up watching movies about sports.
He and his siblings started young, falling for 1990s classics The Sandlot and The Big Green. As he came of age, he graduated from Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez and got hooked on Remember the Titans and Hoosiers. So you can forgive Wondolowski, then, if he’s still processing that Gritty Film Productions – a Hollywood-based feature film company that is focused on developing true sports-related dramas – has reached an agreement with the top goalscorer in MLS history to develop his life story.
There are plenty of elements from Wondolowski’s playing career worthy of the silver screen. The son of a woman who was born into the Kiowa tribe from Oklahoma, Wondolowski was a successful high school player in the East Bay but only received D-I scholarship offers for track and field. He went to D-II Chico State University and was drafted in the fourth round of the MLS Supplemental Draft by the San Jose Earthquakes. A club relocation and a trade back to the Bay later, Wondolowski became an MLS icon and made the 2014 World Cup roster on his way to making MLS history.
But as someone who often kept his personal life private during his playing career, Wondolowski is excited to see more of his story come to light.
“I definitely hope that my early years — high school and college, the first three or four years of playing — I really hope those are spotlighted, because I think that that kind of embodies my story in a sense,” Wondolowski said. “I’d love to kind of shed the light of how I was balancing on the edge of a knife, whether I could continue (playing after high school and college) or whether anyone wanted me to continue. I think it can also help, you know, shed some light on being able to recruit and that players slip through the cracks. You always can try to keep your dream and be able to have that journey, whichever way given the obstacles that come into that road.”
“I’m looking for real life superheroes,” Gritty Film Productions founder Ted Collins said. “I’m not looking to make, you know, made up stories. I’m looking to base (projects) on true stories, because some stuff, you just can’t make up. That’s inspirational to everybody, you know? True athletes doing their thing, going against all odds, and accomplishing great things, that is something that you know will have a huge audience. It’s needed more than ever now. We’re trying to bring this country together in sport.”
When Collins first launched his production company, he quickly found inspiration for a project: a book by Dave Fanucchi about a team of minor league baseball players led by Hall of Fame Manager Tommy Lasorda that stunned the world to win gold at the 2000 Olympics.
Fanucchi signed on as co-executive producer for the Lasorda picture, but he also had a second idea in mind. He had tracked a fellow Chico State University alum who carved out an impressive career playing soccer. Through mutual connections, he pitched Wondolowski on giving his unlikely career trajectory the film treatment. While Wondolowski had some early apprehension, given his preference to keep a low profile — and the reality that a movie would reignite interest in his high profile miss at the 2014 World Cup — that shared alma mater helped reassure him the producers had a better approach in mind.
“I think that was the selling point for me,” Wondolowski said. “It can be easy just to look in and, you know, take the picture from above and you miss a lot of those finer points, of those details. As myself having lived through it, I think that the story is unique in itself and kind of a roundabout journey. I think that the fact that they do feel connected with Chico State and being able to know the story from 25 years ago rather than, you know, just the last five years (before retiring), it’s nice to have that connection.
“I think I’ve been pretty candid in how I explain it, but I think that hopefully, the movie can really delve into everything and just how everything played out and what took place leading up to the career I had.”
As for Wondolowski, classic sports films also hold a special place in Collins and Fanucchi’s hearts. To Collins, the great examples of the genre share a commonality found in both Wondolowski’s story and that of Lasorda’s winning baseball team.
“I’ve always felt in my life that I’m an underdog,” Collins said, “so I really identify with underdog stories. There’s something about Rudy — if I turn on the TV and it’s on, any point of that film, I have to sit there and watch the whole thing. It’s just inspirational to me. I know they took creative license and my brother-in-law tells me that didn’t really happen that way, but I don’t care. I can buy into a movie and just go for the ride and love it. I actually met the writer of Rudy and Hoosiers, Angelo Pizzo; those are two of my favorite sports stories, and that’s what I like to create, those types of films.”
While the producers have secured Wondolowski’s blessing, there’s plenty of work ahead. The project doesn’t have a director or writer attached to it, though Collins does hope to bring in an “A-list director” for both the Wondo project as well as the Lasorda film. Gritty Films is also in pre-production on a film called 2 Men & a Pig (directed by Collins) and will film a picture called The Catch in Chicago next summer.
While there’s no firm timeline for the Wondolowski project, Collins is optimistic that the appeal of the story and the impending 2026 World Cup in North America, could accelerate its path to production. As for Wondolowski himself, don’t expect to see the former Earthquakes star get ready for his close-up.
“I might be just playing my stunt double,” Wondolowski said. “I’ve got a face for radio. I definitely want to talk to them about helping with the story and being able to get involved in any shape, way or form. I definitely don’t think I’m gonna be over there doing the casting call and everything, yelling cut from the director’s seat, but I’d definitely love to be involved any way I can.”
At first asking, the retired striker doesn’t have an ideal casting choice in mind. There’s still so much work to be done before we get to the “who would make the best Wondo” actor debate. However, he does hope that whoever takes the role rounds the performance out beyond being an on-field competitor.
“Hopefully someone that has a little bit of a sense of humor and doesn’t take themselves too seriously,” Wondolowski said. “Someone that likes to work hard, but they play hard, as well.”
(Photo: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports)
