Limited series on 1985 Chicago Bears in development with director Steve Pink

Left · 1Sunset Lane Media, the company run by producer David Beaubaire, has optioned Rich Cohen's book Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football to adapt as a limited series, The Hollywood Reporter reported in an exclusive. 1 Left · 2Daniel Kunka, writer of the films Lift and 12 Rounds, will write the adaptation, and Steve Pink, who directed Hot Tub Time Machine and Accepted, is attached to direct. 1 2 Left · 2No network or streamer is attached at this stage; The A.V. Club suggested that recent interest in sports-history projects such as The Last Dance and Winning Time means a home should not be hard to find. 1 2

Left · 2The team went 15–1 in the 1985 season and beat the New England Patriots 46–10 in Super Bowl XX, which The Hollywood Reporter says more than 92 million people watched live, then the largest US television audience. 1 2 Left · 1The series is meant to cover the field, locker room, front office and city fans, including off-field tensions such as the struggle between coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, and clashes involving quarterback Jim McMahon and running back Walter Payton. 1 Left · 1Beaubaire, an executive producer of Netflix's Night Agent, called the project "a love letter to Chicago". Cohen, who co-created HBO's Vinyl, and Pink also gave statements, and the four principals are all Chicago natives. 1

Left · 2The announcement came days after the death of Ditka, the Bears' coach in 1985, which both outlets mention; The A.V. Club dates Cohen's book to 2014. 1 2