Netflix to Adapt Team Hoyt’s Boston Marathon Journey for Upcoming Film
Netflix has tapped Nat Faxon and Jim Rash to direct Team Hoyt. The film is based on the true story of how Dick Hoyt became a triathlete and marathoner so that he…
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 13: Marathon legends Rick Hoyt (L) and Dick Hoyt pose with the Superman Hall of Heroes award at the Superman Hall Of Heroes inaugural event at Times Square on May 13, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for WBCP)
Netflix has tapped Nat Faxon and Jim Rash to direct Team Hoyt. The film is based on the true story of how Dick Hoyt became a triathlete and marathoner so that he could run the Boston Marathon with his son Rick, a nonverbal quadriplegic.
Dick and Rick had become synonymous with the racing world. Dick and his son participated in more than a thousand endurance events, including 32 Boston Marathons and six Ironman Triathlons.
The film will be produced by Kevin Walsh's The Walsh Company, Gotham Chopra's Religion of Sports, Ryan Stowell, and NFL icon Tom Brady. Russell Hoyt will co-produce the film in collaboration with the Hoyt family estate, honoring Rick and Dick's legacy in the racing and disability communities.
According to the website What's On Netflix, Brady is among the producers on the film project and will be working under the Religion of Sports brand. Netflix has previously collaborated with Brady's Religion of Sports on the highly popular “Rising” series featuring Simone Biles.
Writing for Deadline, Mike Fleming Jr. said, "If you have a beating heart, you'd be hard-pressed to hold back the waterworks watching footage of the bond that developed between a nonathletic father and his son, a young man robbed of mobility and the ability to speak when his umbilical cord strangled him in the womb. Dick got himself off the couch, worked his way into shape, and found that his son enjoyed being part of the race, where they motivated one another."
Although Dick and Rick are both no longer alive — Dick passed away in 2021 and Rick in 2023 — their legacy lives on through The Hoyt Foundation, which maintains a presence at marathons across the United States. The Hoyt Foundation recently held the Team Hoyt Memorial Race, which took place on May 24.
Faxon and Rash recently directed the dramedy Downhill, which starred Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The two won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2012 for The Descendants, directed by Alexander Payne. George Clooney and Shailene Woodley co-starred in the production.
