On occasion, sports books have been used as source material for film adaptations. Popular sports in the United States such as baseball and American football have been adapted to film. Books about sports such as boxing, bullfighting, cockfighting, football, hockey, hunting have also been adapted.
Baseball Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeDeath on the Diamond 1934 Edward Sedgwick USA Death on the Diamond: A Baseball Mystery Story Cortland Fitzsimmons 1934 NovelThe Babe Ruth Story 1948 Roy Del Ruth USA The Babe Ruth Story Bob Considine & Babe Ruth 1948 AutobiographyBang the Drum Slowly * 1956 Daniel Petrie USA Bang the Drum Slowly Mark Harris 1956 NovelFear Strikes Out 1957 Robert Mulligan USA Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story Jimmy Piersall & Albert S. Hirshberg 1955 AutobiographyBang the Drum Slowly 1973 John D. Hancock USA Bang the Drum Slowly Mark Harris 1956 NovelIt's Good to Be Alive 1974 Michael Landon USA It's Good to Be Alive Roy Campanella 1960 AutobiographyThe Natural 1984 Barry Levinson USA The Natural Bernard Malamud 1952 NovelLong Gone 1987 Martin Davidson USA Long Gone (novel) Paul Hemphill 1979 NovelEight Men Out 1988 John Sayles USA 8 Men Out Eliot Asinof 1963 Non-fictionField of Dreams 1989 Phil Alden Robinson USA Shoeless Joe W.P. Kinsella 1982 NovelCobb 1994 Ron Shelton USA Cobb: A Biography Al Stump 1994 Non-fictionThe Fan 1996 Tony Scott USA The Fan Peter Abrahams 1995 NovelFor Love of the Game 1999 Sam Raimi USA For Love of the Game Michael Shaara 1991 NovelAmerican Pastime 2007 Desmond Nakano USA Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball (uncredited) Kerry Yo NakagawaNakagawa is credited as associate producer and actor, rather than author. (uncredited) 2002 Non-fiction Moneyball 2011 Bennett Miller USA Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game Michael Lewis 2003 Non-fiction * television film.
Comedies Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeRhubarb 1951 Arthur Lubin USA Rhubarb H. Allen Smith 1946 NovelFever Pitch 2005 Farrelly Brothers USA Fever Pitch ♠Recipient of the William Hill Award in 1992. Nick Hornby 1992 Memoir ♠ The book Fever Pitch is about a fan of football and Arsenal Football Club in particular, not the baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.
Basketball Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeGlory Road 2006 James Gartner USA Glory Road Don Haskins 2005 Autobiography * television film.
Bodybuilding Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeStay Hungry 1976 Bob Rafelson USA Stay Hungry Charles Gaines 1972 Novel
Boxing
Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeCity for Conquest 1940 Anatole Litvak & Jean Negulesco (uncredited) USA City for Conquest Aben Kandel 1936 NovelGentleman Jim 1942 Raoul Walsh USA The Roar of the Crowd James J. Corbett 1894 AutobiographyFat City 1972 John Huston USA Fat City Leonard Gardner 1969 NovelMandingo 1975 Richard Fleischer USA Mandingo Kyle Onstott 1957 NovelRaging BullInducted into the US National Film Registry in 1990. 1980 Martin Scorsese USA Raging Bull: My Story Jake LaMotta & Joseph Carter 1970 AutobiographyThe Hurricane 1999 Norman Jewison USA The 16th Round Rubin "Hurricane" Carter 199? Non-fiction
Bullfighting Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeFerdinand the Bull 1938 Dick Rickard USA The Story of Ferdinand Munro Leaf 1936 Children's BookSangre y arena 1917 Ricardo de Baños & Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Spain Blood and Sand Vicente Blasco Ibáñez 1909 NovelBlood and Sand 1922 Fred Niblo USA Blood and Sand Vicente Blasco Ibáñez 1909 Novel
Running of the Bulls Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Sun Also Rises 1957 Henry King USA The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway 1926 Novel
Buzkashi Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Devil's Pass La Passe du diable 1958 Jacques Dupont & Pierre Schoendoerffer Italy, France, Spain Témoin parmi les hommes: Le Jeu du Roi Joseph Kessel 1956 ?The Horsemen 1971 John Frankenheimer USA Les Cavaliers Joseph Kessel 1967 NovelCaravans 1978 James Fargo USA & Iran Caravans James Michener 1962 Novel
Car racing Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Last American Hero 1973 Lamont Johnson USA "The Last American Hero" from The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby Tom Wolfe 1965 ArticleBobby Deerfield 1977 Sydney Pollack USA Heaven Has No Favorites Erich Maria Remarque 1959 Novel Blink of an Eye 2019 Paul Taublieb USA In the Blink of an Eye Michael Waltrip with Ellis Henican 2011 Autobiography
Comedies Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Love Bug 1968 Robert Stevenson USA Car, Boy, Girl Gordon Buford 1961 NovelStroker Ace 1983 Hal Needham USA Stand On It William Neely & Robert K. Ottum 1971 Novel
Cockfighting (Popular and legal in Mexico) Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeCockfighter 1974 Monte Hellman USA Cockfighter Charles WillefordIn 1989, Willeford published Cockfighter Journal: The Story of a Shooting about the making of Cockfighter. 1962/1972 Novel
Cycling Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Program 2015 Stephen Frears UK, France Seven Deadly Sins David Walsh 2012 Non-fiction
Diving Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeBreaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story * 1997 Steven Hilliard Stern USA Breaking the Surface Greg Louganis & Eric Marcus 1996 Autobiography * television film.
Falconry Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeKes 1969 Ken Loach UK A Kestrel for a Knave Barry Hines 1968 NovelThe Falcons Magasiskola 1970 István Gaál Hungary Magasiskola Miklós Mészöly 1967 NovelThe Hawk Is Dying 2006 Julian Goldberger USA The Hawk Is Dying Harry Crews 1973 Novel
Fencing Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Last Days of Patton ♠ * 1986 Delbert Mann USA The Last Days of Patton Ladislas Farago 1981 Non-fictionThe Fencing Master El maestro de esgrima 1992 Pedro Olea Spain The Fencing Master Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1988 Novel ♠ Gen. George Patton relaxes in occupied Bavaria with fencing and horseback riding. * television film.
Fishing Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeA River Runs Through It 1992 Robert Redford USA A River Runs Through It and Other StoriesRecommended for the Pulitzer Prize in 1977, but the award was overturned. Norman Maclean 1976 NovellaThe Old Man and the Sea 1958 John Sturges USA The Old Man and the SeaRecipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Ernest HemingwayHemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. 1952 NovellaThe Old Man and the Sea * 1990 Jud Taylor UK The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 NovellaThe Old Man and the Sea Старик и море 1999 Aleksandr Petrov Canada, Russia, Japan The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 Novella * television film.
Football/soccer Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Arsenal Stadium Mystery 1939 Thorold Dickinson UK The Arsenal Stadium Mystery Leonard R. Gribble 1939Publication details for this title have been confirmed by the catalogue of the British Library. Source: British Library Integrated Catalogue. NovelYesterday's Hero 1979 Neil Leifer UK ? Jackie Collins 197? NovelFever Pitch 1997 David Evans UK Fever Pitch Nick Hornby 1992 MemoirThe Game of Their Lives 2005 David Anspaugh USA The Game of Their Lives Geoffrey Douglas 1996Publication details for this title have been confirmed by the catalogue of the US Library of Congress. Source: Library of Congress Online Catalog. Non-fictionThe Damned United 2009 Tom Hooper UK The Damned Utd David Peace 2006 NovelOne Night in Turin 2010 James Erskine UK All Played Out: The Full Story of Italia '90 Pete Davies 2006 Non-fiction
Football, American Professional, college, high school Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date Type TV Date CountryNavy Blue and Gold 1937 Sam Wood USA Navy Blue and Gold George Bruce 1937? Novel ---Jim Thorpe – All-American 1951 Michael Curtiz USA ? Jim Thorpe 19?? Autobiography ---Brian's Song 1971 Buzz Kulik USA I Am Third Gale Sayers & Al Silverman 1970 Autobiography Brian's Song 2001 USANorth Dallas Forty 1979 Ted Kotcheff USA North Dallas Forty Peter Gent 1973 Novel ---Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story 1980 Robert Lieberman USA Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story Rocky Bleier 1975 Autobiography ---Everybody's All-American 1988 Taylor Hackford USA Everybody's All-American Frank Deford 1981 Novel ---Any Given Sunday 1999 Oliver Stone USA On Any Given SundaySource: Lavington (q.v.), p. 256. (uncredited) Pat Toomay (uncredited) 1984 Novel ---Monday Night Mayhem 2002 Ernest R. Dickerson USA Monday Night Mayhem: The Inside Story of ABC's Monday Night Football Bill Carter & Marc Gunther 1988 Non-fiction ---The Junction Boys * 2002 Mike Robe USAThe Junction Boys Jim Dent 2001 Non-fiction ---Friday Night Lights 2004 Peter Berg USA Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream H. G. Bissinger 1990 Non-fiction Friday Night Lights 2006 USACode Breakers * 2005 Rod Holcomb USAA Return to Glory: the Untold Story of Honor, Dishonor, and Triumph at the United States Military Academy, 1950-53 Bill McWilliams 2000 Non-fiction ---The Express: The Ernie Davis Story 2008 Gary Fleder USA Ernie Davis, the Elmira Express: the Story of a Heisman Trophy Winner Robert C. Gallagher 1983 Biography ---The Blind Side 2009 John Lee Hancock USA The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game Michael Lewis 2006 Non-fiction --- Radio 2003 Mike Tollin USA "Someone to Lean On" Gary Smith 1996 Article --- * television film.
Comedies Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeHorse Feathers 1932 Norman Z. McLeod USA Fun in Hi Skule Marx Brothers 1920s VaudevilleThe Gladiator 1938 Edward Sedgwick USA Gladiator Philip Wylie 1930 NovelPaper Lion 1968 Alex March USA Paper Lion George Plimpton 1966 MemoirSemi-Tough 1977 Michael Ritchie USA Semi-Tough Dan Jenkins 1972 Novel
Off the field (Terrorism became a regular part of news reports in the early 1970s, and this theme was extended to popular fiction.) Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeTwo-Minute Warning 1976 Larry Peerce USA Two-Minute Warning George La Fountaine, Sr. 197? NovelBlack Sunday 1977 John Frankenheimer USA Black Sunday Thomas Harris 1975 Novel
Football, Australian Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Great Macarthy 1975 David Baker Australia A Salute to the Great Macarthy Barry Oakley 1970 NovelAustralian Rules 2002 Paul Goldman Australia Deadly, Unna? Phillip Gwynne 1998 Novel
Football, Canadian Professional and university Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeThe Man Who Lost Himself * aka The Stranger I Married 2005 Helen Shaver Canada The Man Who Lost Himself: The Terry Evanshen Story June Callwood 2000 Non-fiction * television film.
Golf Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypeDead Solid Perfect * 1988 Bobby Roth USA Dead Solid Perfect Dan Jenkins 1974 NovelThe Legend of Bagger Vance 2000 Robert Redford USA The Legend of Bagger Vance Steven Pressfield 1995 NovelA Gentleman's Game 2002 J. Mills Goodloe USA A Gentleman's Game Tom Coyne 2001 NovelThe Greatest Game Ever Played 2005 Bill Paxton USA The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf Mark Frost 2002 Non-fiction Tommy's Honour 2016 Jason Connery UK/USA Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son Kevin Cook 2007 Non-fiction * television film.
Gymnastics Film Date Director Country Source work Author Date TypePeaceful Warrior 2006 Victor Salva USA Way of the Peaceful Warrior Dan Millman 1980 Novel/ Memoir
Ice hockey