Tom Hanks is reuniting with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood director Marielle Heller for a new baseball film, and the project has already attracted serious studio interest, with Bad Bunny and Colman Domingo both eyeing roles.
The film is an adaptation of The Comebacker, a short story by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers, who previously wrote the source material for two other Hanks films, A Hologram for the King and The Circle.
Heller will direct, with both she and Hanks producing through their respective production companies. Sony Pictures is said to be in the lead to acquire the project, which has drawn interest from multiple studios.
The Comebacker is the opening story in Eggers’ collection The Forgetters.
It marks the first collaboration between Hanks and Heller since A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, their 2019 film about broadcaster Fred Rogers, which earned Hanks an Oscar nomination.
Bad Bunny and Domingo are both at the interested stage rather than confirmed, with representatives for both yet to comment.
It’s not yet clear what role the Grammy-winning rapper would play.
He is currently on a world tour through the end of July, leaving the production timeline uncertain. Domingo received an Oscar nomination for his lead performance in Rustin.
