Roger Ebert’s memoir to be filmed courtesy of Steve James, Steve Zaillian, and Martin Scorsese

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Film criticism is a dangerous job. You run the risk of alienating tons of people based on your opinion of movies. I know first hand from my Unpopular Opinion on THE AVENGERS that fans do not always agree with you (don’t worry, Schmoes, I have another good one coming for ya this week!). But, it is the rare critic that both filmmakers and fans can respect. Roger Ebert is one of those rare exceptions.

Ebert and his trademark thumbs up have become part of pop culture as a whole. With all of the recent hardships he has undergone medically, he has remained at work and bringing the same high level of intelligence to his reviews of movies, past and present.

A trio of acclaimed filmmakers will bring his recent memoir, Life Itself, to film in the form of a full length documentary. HOOP DREAMS director Steve James, SCHINDLER’S LIST screenwriter Steve Zaillian, and Martin Scorsese will team up to create the film that will follow Ebert’s life, his battle with alcoholism, and his cancer which has left him without a jaw or the ability to eat, drink, or speak.

Ebert is an icon who deserves the big screen treatment. I doubted the ability to make this a feature film but a documentary would be the best way to capture his story. Pretty much any clip of Ebert discussing his cancer survival is incredibly moving. I am looking forward to this quite a bit.