Upcoming Tom Hanks Baseball Movie ‘The Comebacker’ Officially Scheduled for Summer 2027

Tom Hanks and Marielle Heller, who directed him in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, will reunite in Sony Pictures' next film The Comebacker. He was nominated for an Oscar for that movie. On July 30, 2027, the Comebacker is locked. After a fierce bidding war between Republic Pictures and Focus Features, Sony emerged victorious. After starring in Tom Tykwer's A Hologram for the King in 2016 and James Ponsoldt's The Circle in 2017, Hanks is starring in an adaptation of Eggers' novel for the third time.

The baseball comedy centers on an older beat reporter whose passion for the game, the team he covers, and his career is rekindled by a young pitcher. The Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers' short story served as the basis for the movie. “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.”

The screenplay for the movie is being written by David Magee. Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and SF Studios are producing the film under the Playtone label. The main creative collaborators of a recent box office hit are back together on this project. Hanks, Forster, and Magee previously worked together on the popular song "A Man Called Otto" from 2022. The previous movie did well with viewers throughout the world, earning over $113 million globally.

The Comebacker's story revolves around a seasoned baseball player looking for a second chance at both life and athletics. For its principal actor, the story offers a thematic return to the diamond. In the iconic 1992 baseball comedy A League of Their Own, Hanks played manager Jimmy Dugan. Among his many acting credits, his performance in that highly regarded movie continues to stand out.

The upcoming baseball movie starring Tom Hanks is about to take off.

The Comebacker will be released in theaters on July 30, 2027, according to a Wednesday announcement from Sony Pictures. The film, which is based on Dave Eggers' 2024 short story of the same name and is directed by Marielle Heller, stars Hanks.

In The Comebacker, Hanks plays a pitching coach whose life is drastically altered when he is struck in the head by a hit ball while standing at the mound.

The project is produced by Playtone and Leah Holzer in collaboration with Major League Baseball.