Sony is releasing The Comebackers.
Tom Hanks reunites with Marielle Heller.
The baseball comedy hits theatres on July 30, 2027.
Sony Pictures will release Tom Hanks' The Comebacker, that sees him reuniting with Marielle Heller, who directed him in A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood. That film fetched him an Oscar nomination. The Comebacker is locked for July 30, 2027. Sony won out a heated bidding war with Republic Pictures and Focus Features. This is the third time Hanks has starred in an adaptation of Eggers’ work, having previously appeared in Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram for the King in 2016 and James Ponsoldt’s The Circle in 2017
Details On The Comebacker
The baseball comedy follows an older beat reporter whose love of the game, the team he covers and his profession is reignited by the arrival of a new pitcher. The film was adapted from the short story by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers. The official synopsis for the short story, part of a series from Eggers called The Forgetters, reads: “Lionel Vratimos is a beat reporter covering the San Francisco Giants ― an enviable job if not for the soggy fries, and the so-so weather, and the Giants’ losing record, and the shoe Lionel paid a Romanian shoemaker to re-sole but which now squeaks with every footfall. His colleagues are even more dissatisfied, mired in statistics and myopia and complaints about a certain elevator that is really too slow. One day, though, a new pitcher, Nathan Couture, is brought up from the minor leagues; he’s tall and lanky and talks like no one they’ve ever covered. Even more startling is Nathan’s actual interest in the words Lionel writes, and his rare, even unprecedented, ability to see the beauty in the game he’s paid to play.”
Reuniting the Creative Team
David Magee is writing the screenplay for the film. The feature is being produced by Hanks and Gary Goetzman under their Playtone banner, alongside SF Studios. The project reunites the primary creative partners behind a recent box-office success. Hanks, Forster and Magee previously collaborated on the 2022 hit, A Man Called Otto. That preceding film performed strongly with global audiences, grossing over $113mn worldwide.
Hanks Returns to Baseball
The plot of The Comebacker centres on a veteran baseball figure searching for a second act in life and sports. The narrative provides a thematic return to the diamond for its lead actor. Hanks famously starred as manager Jimmy Dugan in the classic 1992 baseball comedy A League of Their Own. His performance in that critically acclaimed film remains a standout in his extensive acting catalogue.
