Skip to main content
the producers

Dave Bidini, left, and Geddy Lee.

Rockers Geddy Lee of Rush and former Rheostatics frontman Dave Bidini are heading from the stage to the screen with a new collaboration.

Lee has optioned the film and TV rights to Bidini's 2005 book, Baseballissimo.

The book followed Bidini's journey to Nettuno, Italy, a picturesque town that has been the country's baseball capital since the 1940s, when American GIs imported the pasttime as they liberated the area.

Bidini - a prolific author, playwright and musician - will release his ninth book, Search of Dreams at the Homeless World Cup of Soccer in September and dropped his debut solo CD (under the name Bidiniband) a year ago.

Aside from being a Rush fan, Bidini also delivered the induction speech as the veteran Toronto rockers were ushered into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in March.

"Ged was one of the first people to really get behind the book, which was a thrill for me, obviously," Bidini wrote in an email to The Canadian Press on Thursday.

"It's early days yet, but I think he's a natural producer. And really once you've helped run one of the greatest and most respected rock and roll bands of all time, the film biz has got nothing on you, I figure."

Interact with The Globe