This year's sports movies in an oddball league

By Scott Bowles
USA Today

Ben Stiller gets high on dodgeball in a film coming out in June. 20th Century Fox

But studios this year have a spate of movies that are off the beaten sports path. No fewer than nine sports films are on the horizon in 2004, and only two include a football, basketball or baseball.

The industry is hoping to lure more women and youths.

"Against the Ropes," which opened recently, is a boxing story from a woman's perspective. Meg Ryan plays a Detroit woman who becomes a boxing manager.

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" revisits every kid's elementary-school nightmare in a comedy starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn, due June 18.

"Wimbledon," which arrives Sept. 24, marks one of Hollywood's rare forays into tennis, with a love story starring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany.

"Hidalgo," a horse-racing drama starring Viggo Mortensen, opens March 5, followed by "NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience," out March 12. Martial-arts and soccer fans get "Shaolin Soccer," due March 26, and baseball fans get Bernie Mac's "Mr. 3000" on Sept. 24. The gridiron drama "Friday Night Lights" hits screens Oct. 15, and Russell Crowe ends the season by portraying boxer Jim Braddock in December's "Cinderella Man."

Recent Hollywood forays into sports movies have paid off. "Miracle," the story of the 1980 Olympic hockey team, has taken in more than $40 million since its debut Feb. 6 and is holding well.

Last year's "Seabiscuit" stunned analysts by taking in $120.3 million and seven Academy Award nominations, including best picture.

"When you do a sports movie right, it's great," says "Ropes" director Charles S. Dutton, who also co-stars. "But when they're bad, they're awful. People have high expectations, particularly when it's a sport they love."