Screenhead

Ryan Merriman, Aidan Quinn and Andie MacDowell get to play the Abbate family in a film, 5^th Quarter about a college football player’s tribute to his late brother. He inspired his team to a record season, and the heartfelt story is a gem for the big screen.

The independent film will be directed by Rick Bieber.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the story follows the Abbate’s after the devastation 15-year-old Luke Abbate’s death in a 2006 car crash and their painful decision to donate his organs to five people. Wake Forest junior Jon Abbate (Merriman) asked his coach to change his jersey number to Luke’s number, five. Just before the fourth quarter of each game, the linebacker began holding up five fingers along with his parents, Steven and Maryanne (Quinn and MacDowell) as they sat in section five of the stadium.

Soon news of the personal tribute spread, so even opposing players and fans joined them by the thousands. The spread of the tribute inspired the family to launch the Five Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to the educations of young adults about responsible driving.

Ironically,  Abbate’s low-ranked team soon reached a school-record 11 wins and even earned a trip to the Orange Bowl.

The film has hometown roots as writer-director Bieber acquired rights to the Abbates’ story and will begin the six-week shoot Oct. 16 on and around the school’s Winston-Salem campus. Former Wake Forest player Robert McCreary and Alan Cohen are executive producing the $5 million-range project. Stacy Earl (who appears in Bieber’s upcoming regional release “Crazy”) and Michael Harding also star.

Hollywood reporter states that even real-life players of the story play themselves in the film, including the Abbates’ Atlanta-based pastor, Jon Abbate’s trainer and Wake Forest’s game announcer.  The film will also feature tapes Jon’s games to intercut with scenes shot in Wake Forest’s stadium to increase a sense of realism to the film.

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