It seems studios really will develop anything if they believe there’s a hint of a built-in audience attached to it. Even though no one would say that kids sports movies – and specifically kids baseball movies – are even really around anymore, let alone profitable, 20th Century Fox seems to think differently. They’re developing a prequel to the 1993 movie, The Sandlot.
David Mickey Evans, writer and director of the original film, is reportedly attached to co-write the script with Austin Reynolds. The original film revolves around a young child in 1962 who accidentally knocks his father’s baseball into his neighbour’s yard where it’s taken by ‘The Beast’; a large fearsome dog. He and his friends spend the rest of the summer trying to get the ball back.
Plot details on this prequel script are under wraps, but will reportedly focus on the legend of The Beast and how the dog developed such a scary reputation. There have been two direct-to-DVD sequels of the film, but this project is intended to be bigger and have a genuine connection to the original film.
It’s interesting that Fox would choose this project to develop, but perhaps they’re banking on the burgeoning 90s nostalgia that’s beginning to take over (just in time if you believe in the 30 year cycle; why 50s nostalgia was popular in the 80s, etc.). The studio is likely thinking that a lot of people who grew up with The Sandlot will come flocking to this prequel as adults.
It’s also an intriguing decision since sports movies are no longer as prominent as they once were, especially baseball-centric ones as the sport has declined in popularity over the years. Even so, we’ll wait for more details on The Sandlot prequel to emerge. Fox will hope that baseball’s popularity doesn’t decline even further in the years before release.
#Peace.Love.TheSandlot
