O'Hara, Gamble, Fisher Tabbed For Golf In The Kingdom; Straight To Video Release Pegged For Summer '08

Golfweek's Scott Hamilton reports that the infamous Michael Murphy book is finally set for production and (spoiler alert) I've learned some key plot details. First, Hamilton writes:

Production of “Golf in the Kingdom” is scheduled to begin shortly after summer, with the entire shoot taking place in Oregon.

The movie version of Michael Murphy’s book of the same title has been tabbed with a modest $3 million budget. Production company Golf in the Kingdom LLC has enrolled sports marketing and management company Octagon to enlist corporate sponsors and handle all licensing and product placement for the film. John Ashworth is overseeing costume design, while Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ special-effects firm, has signed on as the film’s visual designers.

What, no Marty Hackel?

Shooting is scheduled to wrap Dec. 1 with a release date planned to coincide with the 2008 U.S. Open or British Open. Golf scenes will be shot on location at Bandon Dunes with other scenes to be filmed in a Eugene, Ore, studio.

The cast includes David O’Hara, Mason Gamble, Frances Fisher and Malcolm McDowell. Mindy Affirme, the film’s producer, also said several actors have been approached for cameos, including Sean Connery and Hugh Grant.

Industry sources the delays were influenced by the book's lack of a second or third act.

However after veteran scribe Paul Haggis (Crash, Letters From Iwo Jima, thirtysomething (three story arc in 1987)) brushed up the script, a rivetting finale will now include Michael Murphy scaling the Golden Gate Bridge to talk Jim Flick (the Connery cameo) down from jumping after learning another of his students has adopted Stack and Tilt.

That will be followed by a dramatic chase through the streets of Palm Desert in which Shivas (now caddying at San Francisco Golf Club and reunited with Murphy in a quest for the meaning of life/golf) helps the author's character track down Mac O'Grady at Mesquite Country Club for a final instructional sequence that will leave audiences questioning everything they've ever read in Golf Magazine, while also marking the long-awaited digital media release of O'Grady's instruction thoughts.

It's Baggar Vance meets Memoirs of a Geisha in the vein of Traffic.