Disney Buys Rights to Stories
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The nine Pennsylvania coal miners who were trapped underground for 77 hours have sold the TV and book rights to their story to The Walt Disney Co. for $150,000 each, their lawyer said Saturday.
The deal includes a movie for Disney's ABC network and a book to be published by the Burbank company's Hyperion Publishing division, Pittsburgh attorney Thomas Crawford said in an interview.
Crawford said he received more than 120 offers for the miners' stories.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The miners were working July 24 in the Quecreek Mine in western Pennsylvania when it flooded. They huddled together 240 feet underground, subsisting on little more than a corned beef sandwich split nine ways, as their rescue effort transfixed the nation.
Early Sunday morning, July 28, all nine were pulled up alive. The success resonated as a hopeful counterpoint to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and corporate America's scandals.
Several miners contacted Saturday referred questions to Crawford. Messages left for representatives of ABC and Disney were not immediately returned.