Costner to play Browns GM in ‘Draft Day,’ Cleveland Shoot Planned

'Draft Day' to film in Cleveland,
feature the Cleveland Browns

Kevin Costner will return to the sports film genre, playing the GM of the Cleveland Browns in a new film titled Draft Day. The film will shoot in Cleveland, according to NBCSports Pro Football Talk and the Buffalo News.

The film originally cast Costner as GM of the Buffalo Bills, but because of Ohio’s lucrative film tax incentive, The Monticello Production Company and producer Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Hitchcock) chose to relocate the film to Cleveland.

“At the end of the day, it was a money thing,” said Tim Clark, head of the Buffalo Niagara Film Commission, in the Buffalo News. “I think Reitman really wanted to shoot here, but it just came down to the cost factor. What we were told is that the Cleveland incentives were better.”

The Cleveland Film Commission could not comment on the news.

This could be good news for Cleveland sports fans. The last big movie to depict the slings and arrows of a Cleveland sports franchise was 1989’s Major League. A few years (six, to be exact), the Cleveland Indians wound up in the World Series and became a MLB powerhouse for several years after.

The Internet Movie Database lists the film as “In Development.” It also calls the film a comedy.

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