Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter's gambling scandal to be focus of TV series

Lionsgate Television is capitalizing on Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter's gambling scandal and bringing the drama to the small screen.

The Canadian-American entertainment company announced on Thursday that it's developing a scripted series based on the scandal.

According to a report by Alex Andrejev of The Athletic, Tony Award winner Scott Delman and sports reporter Albert Chen will produce the series.

Per Andrejev's report, the show will follow "Ohtani's rise, including his record-setting 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers in December" and "the news months later that Ohtani's then-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, allegedly stole $17 million from the baseball icon to pay off gambling debts."

The team fired Mizuhara in March. He turned himself into federal authorities and was charged with bank fraud on April 12.

The two-time AL MVP's former friend pled guilty to the charges on Wednesday and his arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.

"This is major league baseball’s biggest sports gambling scandal since Pete Rose — and at its center is its biggest star, one that MLB has hitched its wagon on,” Chen said in a release, according to Andrejev's report. "We’ll get to the heart of the story — a story of trust, betrayal and the trappings of wealth and fame."

Per the report, Chen wrote a book on sports gambling called "Billion Dollar Fantasy" and was a senior editor at Sports Illustrated, covering baseball.

Delman worked on the television miniseries "Station Eleven" and produced Broadway hits such as "The Book of Mormon" and "Death of a Salesman."