Nowadays in Hollywood, there is a premium on millennial nostalgia. Shows like Stranger Things and movies like Ready Player One, IT and Christopher Robin have all leveraged our nostalgia to some degree in order to achieve success. So any beloved property of a certain age with that nostalgic sentiment towards it is a prime candidate to be rebooted, remade or have a follow-up arrive sooner or later. Such is the case with the beloved baseball classic The Sandlot. The 1993 film, which turned 25 earlier this year, will now be getting a prequel.
20th Century Fox is in the early stages of development on a prequel film to The Sandlot. The prequel will bring back David Mickey Evans, who wrote and directed the 1993 original, to co-write the script for the prequel. Whether or not he will also return to the director's chair remains to be seen. David Mickey Evans will co-write alongside Austin Reynolds. As of right now, the actual plot of the prequel film is unknown, although Deadline reports that it will supposedly involve the legend of the Beast from the first film. As this is very early, there is no official title or release date set at this time.
The fact that we're getting more of The Sandlot isn't a shock given the love for the property, but the possible plot is somewhat surprising. The Beast in the first film was a dog that frightened the young baseball players and collected the baseballs they hit into his yard. He was built up to be this ferocious monster to be feared and avoided; the kind of neighborhood legend that all kids love to tell and perfectly captures the childhood imagination. He ultimately turned out to be a lovable old English Mastiff named Hercules. I suppose this prequel could show what happened to the first kid that went to retrieve a ball from the yard and depict how the legend of the Beast grew, but I'm not sure that there is much story there.
Personally, if the Beast is the focus, this feels like giving us the origin of a character that doesn't need one. I understand The Sandlot name is needed for the brand recognition, but I would have liked to see a reboot that showed a different neighborhood and different baseball team on an entirely new quest or mystery versus just showing another facet of the one we already know. Despite that, The Sandlot works because of its humor, heart and fun cast, and as long as a prequel film gets the dynamic of the kids right, it will work. Plus, seeing the Beast as a puppy is an easy sell.
One interesting thing about The Sandlot prequel is that it is being developed by 20th Century Fox, which is in the process of being acquired by the Walt Disney Company. Presumably by the time this movie is ready to go it would be a Disney title. That makes me wonder if this might end up being a title to help drive subscriptions to Disney's upcoming streaming service instead of a theatrical release. I'm not sure how a Sandlot prequel would do at the box office even with the nostalgia and name recognition, but it would be another brand to bolster Disney's streaming offerings.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated on news about The Sandlot prequel as it develops. For all of the biggest movies hitting theaters this year, check out our premiere guide.
