Pursuits
Biopic of Soccer Governing Body FIFA Cost $32 Million
This article is for subscribers only.
Soccer governing body FIFA contributed about a quarter of the budget of a newly released movie on its history that avoids corruption issues that tainted the organization in the past four years.
United Passions, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last week, features Pulp Fiction actor Tim Roth as FIFA President Sepp Blatter while Frenchman Gerard Depardieu plays World Cup creator Jules Rimet. Sam Neill stars as Joao Havelange, the former president who turned the organization into a money-making machine before being exposed in retirement for taking bribes from a marketing partner.