Disney Buys the Rights to Miners’ Story

The nine Pennsylvania coal miners rescued Saturday after three days underground have sold the TV-movie and book rights to their story to divisions of Walt Disney Co. for $150,000 apiece, according to the Pittsburgh attorney representing the men.

Thomas Crawford, who specializes in criminal tax and labor law, said the deal includes a movie for Disney’s ABC network and a book that will be published by the Burbank company’s book arm, Hyperion Publishing.

An ABC spokesman declined to comment Friday.

The story of the miners’ ordeal and their rescuers’ successful efforts became a sign of hope for many Americans after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, high-profile corporate scandals and recent abductions of young girls that ended tragically.

Crawford said he received more than 120 offers for the miners’ stories in the days after they were pulled from the earth in narrow metal canisters. Some offers consisted merely of an author offering a few thousand dollars to option the story, while others were made through news producers representing competing broadcast networks.

Rebecca Marx, a representative for NBC, said the network did not bid on the story.

Nancy Carr, the vice president of publicity for movies and miniseries for CBS, said the network is cutting down on “long-form” material, but said it is the network’s policy not to comment on deals in development.

Several of the miners contacted Friday by The Times said they had been instructed to refer all media calls to Crawford.

The television networks have long had a hunger for real-life stories of heroism and survival.

Films have included CBS’ “Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story” in 1994 and two films about Jessica McClure: “Everybody’s Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure” in 1989 and “Whose Child Is This?: The War for Baby Jessica” in 1993.