New Lou Gehrig biopic to be produced with Yankees' approval

"The Iron Horse" is returning to the silver screen.

A new biopic on the life of baseball legend Lou Gehrig, entitled "The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth," is set to begin production in the near future, Deadline.com's Mike Fleming Jr. revealed Wednesday. The film, based on Jonathan Eig's 2006 biography "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig," will be directed by Jay Russell, whose other feature credits include "My Dog Skip" and "Ladder 49."

Gehrig's life was previously chronicled on film in the 1942 classic "The Pride of the Yankees," starring Gary Cooper as the first baseman. That film was nominated for 11 Oscars and won one, and remains a classic baseball movie thanks to its iconic (though slightly inaccurate) depiction of his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939.

Russell told Fleming that his film will differ from "Pride" in that it will take a closer look at Gehrig off the field, with a particular focus on his relationship with his wife Eleanor.

One of the film's executive producers from Kingsway Productions is Robert Molloy - the grandson of former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner - and the Yankees organization has given the production its blessing, according to Fleming.

"As my late grandfather always believed, Lou Gehrig was a great role model for the world," Molloy told Fleming. "There is triumph even in tragedy, and it's only in the face of great odds that true human heroes are born and inspire us all."

Gehrig, the beloved face of the Yankees' first dynasty alongside Babe Ruth, set multiple records during his 17-year career. He was elected to the Hall of Fame by special election immediately following his retirement, and his mark of 2,130 consecutive games played stood as a record for 56 years.

Gehrig's career came to a sudden and tragic end in 1939 when he was diagnosed with the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. He died a little over two years later on June 2, 1941, at the age of 37.