THE COMEBACKER: A Fight Between Studios for Tom Hanks’ Latest Collaboration with Director Marielle Heller
Tom Hanks’ Latest Launches a Fight from Studios
Tom Hanks‘ upcoming baseball movie is another collaboration for the actor with director Marielle Heller and is launching some interest from three major studios.
The Comebacker is the name of Tom Hanks’ next collaboration with filmmaker Marielle Heller. The pair worked together on the Mr. Rogers movie from 2019, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. That last time the pair worked together, it resulted in an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the versatile Hanks. Now, there are three studios in line to try to release the next project from Hanks and Heller, a baseball film called The Comebacker.
In The Comebacker, Hanks is playing the role of a journalist/pitching coach for a major league team whose central pitcher is hit in the head by a line drive. Sony, the studio behind A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, is in a fight with Focus and one other studio to obtain the rights for the new picture for its domestic release. Based on a short story by Dave Eggers, The Comebacker could have a potentially stacked supporting cast because, as of right now, there is interest from some major actors, including interest from the likes of Bad Bunny and Colman Domingo.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was a hit at the box-office and with audiences. It earned an impressive $61 million at the domestic box-office and received a straight “A” CinemaScore grade from opening night audiences. It’s no wonder studios are actively bidding for the new film from Hanks and Heller.
Bad Bunny was recently seen in last summer’s Austin Butler film, Caught Stealing, while Colman Domingo is expected to be making a bid for another Oscar nomination, playing Michael Jackson’s dad in the upcoming biopic, Michael. While their casting isn’t 100% secured as of now, both stars are expected to potentially sign on to The Comebacker.
Hanks is no stranger to baseball movies, having starred in the 1992 female baseball player movie, A League of Their Own, which grossed over $100 million at the domestic box-office in the year of its release. Sony seems poised to win the bidding war for The Comebacker, but don’t underestimate Focus or the other interested party, both of which are studios that wouldn’t mind putting a new Oscar-caliber hit under their belt. While we don’t know who, exactly, the third studio is, once the war is over, we will know who ultimately won the rights to the upcoming baseball picture.
Hanks and Heller’s last collaboration was marked by praise for its sensitive approach to the character at the core of the film: Mr. Rogers. Many expect The Comebacker to be a tearjerker just like the pair’s previous 2019 effort.
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