Amateur pitchers everywhere will have a chance to prove they have the fastball skills to win a $1 million prize in a competition to celebrate the opening of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm which releases May 16, 2014.
Million Dollar Arm is an incredible true story about two young men who went from never throwing a baseball to getting a Major League tryout.
Contestants will be able to test their skills at the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, Calif., ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida or the Tribeca Family Festival in New York on April 25 & 26 from 7:00a.m. to 6:00p.m. The three contestants from each location who throw the fastest pitches will advance to the finals and have a chance to compete for a $1 million prize at the world premiere of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm in Hollywood on May 6.
Official contest rules are available on Disney.com’s Million Dollar Arm website located at http://disney.com/PitchingContest
Based on a true story, Million Dollar Arm is the story of how sports agent JB Bernstein (Jon Hamm) finds that business has changed and things aren’t going well for his career. In a desperate effort to save his livelihood he concocts a scheme to find baseball’s next great pitching ace. Hoping to find a young cricket pitcher he can turn into a major league baseball star, JB travels to India to produce a reality show competition called “The Million Dollar Arm.” With the help of cantankerous but eagle-eyed retired baseball scout Ray Poitevint (Alan Arkin), he discovers Dinesh (played by Madhur Mittal from Slumdog Millionaire) and Rinku (played by Suraj Sharma from Life of Pi), two 18-year-old boys who have no idea about playing baseball, yet have a knack for throwing a fastball. Hoping to sign them to major league contracts and make some fast money, JB brings the boys home to America to train. While the Americans are definitely out of their element in India, the boys, who have never left their rural villages, are likewise challenged when they come to the States. As the boys learn the finer points of baseball, JB, with the help of his charming friend Brenda (Lake Bell), learns valuable life lessons about teamwork, commitment and what it means to be a family.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, Disney’s Million Dollar Arm stars Jon Hamm, Aasif Mandvi, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Lake Bell and Alan Arkin. Disney’s Million Dollar Arm will be released in the United States on May 16, 2014.