Tobey Maguire To Take on Bobby Fischer!

Not literally. That would be sortof impossible at this point. Fresh off losing his Spider-Man gig, Tobey Maguire is keen to move on by producing and possibly starring in Pawn Sacrifice. The film is based on the life of world renowned chessmaster, Bobby Fischer. The story revolve around Fischer's 1972 contest against then Russian chess champ, Boris Spassky. The match, which carried all sorts of Cold War connotations at the time, was referred to as the "Match of the Century" and transformed the eccentric Fischer into a media celebrity.

The script has already been written by Stephen Knight(Eastern Promises), but it's likely another writer will come on board to patch it up. No word yet on a possible release date.

My earliest exposure to Bobby Fischer was in the 1993 film, Searching for Bobby Fischer, which was the the true story of Josh Waitzkin, a young chess player who's life seemed to be following a similar path to greatness. That film is in my pantheon as one of my favorites, but it actually focused very little on Fischer. I'm curious to know if Pawn Sacrifice will highlight some of Fischer's darker periods. He becomes really rather jaded and cynical later on, especially in regards to his feelings on America.

Thanks to Slashfilm for their coverage of this story.