Josh Waitzkin? What about the true former chess child prodigy Jeff Sarwer? Josh was supposed to be his biggest rival, but instead was following Jeff's path and staying in his shadow. Jeff's chess career was maybe short, but it was full of spectacular events and he was for sure the most amazing and talented chess player at his age, as his first coach Bruce Pandolfini confirms. Allen Kaufman head of the American Chess Foundation said, "Jeff at nine is stronger than Bobby was at 11." Jeff not Josh was a panelist at the Karpov – Kasparov World Championship Match in 1986 and 1987 on PBS.
His life and what he's been through is definitely worth seeing on the screen. If you had read the articles about him and his crazy family in magazines such as GQ or Vanity Fair you would know that the guy has amazing stories behind him and I believe that a film about him would be a Hollywood hit! The Sarwers had an extreme life in almost every regard including living on hippie communes under fake names. A lot of tragedy in their story, but it certainly would make a heck of a social piece especially since it seems that Jeff came out of it all now as a solid European poker player. I hope one day somebody will do this.
Meantime take a look at these sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Sarwer http://chessatknight.blogspot.com
Mir Sultan Khan.
I agree, I think Mir Sultan Khan would be a most interesting story.