Tom Hanks’ “The Comebacker” is rounding the bases and make a sprint for home.
The feature film, directed by Hanks’ “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” collaborator Marielle Heller and adapted from the short story by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers, sparked a bidding war after it was taken to studios this week with at least three contenders vying for distribution.
Republic Pictures, Focus Features and Sony are duking it out for “The Comebacker,” with Warner Bros. dropping out of the race after initially expressing interest, TheWrap has learned.
It is assumed Sony will come out on top, having provided an attractive offer for the project. Plus, there’s the studio’s history with Heller and Hanks, having released “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” which earned Hanks a 2019 Oscar nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, along with the star’s 2022 drama “A Man Called Otto.”
“The Comebacker” is set to be produced by Hanks’ partner Gary Goetzman at Playtone, and Heller’s producing partner Leah Holzer at their Defiant by Nature banner. Super Bowl Halftime Show performer Bad Bunny and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo are also eying roles in the feature.
This will be 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, where Hanks played a villainous tech mogul opposite Emma Watson.
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 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.”
Hanks has recently appeared in a series of minor roles in projects like Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and “Asteroid City,” Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s “Freaky Tales” and the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.” His last starring role was in 2024’s “Here,” which reunited him with the “Forrest Gump” team of director Robert Zemeckis, screenwriter Eric Roth and co-star Robin Wright. He is current at work on “Greyhound 2,” a follow-up to his 2020 Apple movie, with Hanks returning to write and star for director Aaron Schneider. He will also reprise his beloved Woody in this summer’s “Toy Story 5.”
Heller’s last movie was the Amy Adams-led “Nightbitch,” which Searchlight released in 2024.
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