Adam Sandler baseball film on back burner

So, Adam Sandler’s big baseball movie with Josh Safdie? Yeah, it’s not happening anytime soon. You’d think after the rollercoaster ride that was Uncut Gems, these two would be fast-tracking their next project. But nope, it seems like the ball has been sitting on the mound, gathering dust.

Last we heard, this film was supposed to be a massive deal - Sandler back in the game with Safdie, in what’s apparently another intense ride, only this time with a baseball twist. But it’s been radio silence for a while now, and everyone’s starting to wonder if this one’s ever gonna make it off the bench. Josh Safdie, the guy behind the camera, gave us Uncut Gems alongside his brother Benny. But Benny’s now off doing his own thing with Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine for A24. So, the Safdie tag team is on a break, and that might have thrown a wrench into the works here.

From what we’ve heard, this baseball movie needs to be shot during the actual baseball season. Makes sense, right? But with all the chaos from last year’s strikes, the timing just didn’t work out. And when you’re trying to get a lineup like Sandler, Ben Affleck, Steve Harvey, Megan Thee Stallion, and Gael Garcia Bernal on the same page, timing is everything. If those schedules don’t sync up, you’re looking at a major headache.

“We’re not sure right now. We kind of missed the opportunity of baseball season because of the strike. A lot of it was gonna be shot during live baseball. So it’s gonna take a minute. We’re figuring it all out right now. I’m not sure when it’s gonna happen.”

Sandler’s still holding out hope, though. When asked about the project, he wasn’t exactly bursting with confidence, but he hasn’t thrown in the towel yet either. “It’s something that we talked about today,” he told IndieWire. “It’s hopefully going to come back. It’s crazy, it’s a cool script, very long. Josh doesn’t stop working hard.” Not exactly a guarantee, but at least he’s still talking about it.

In the meantime, Sandler is getting ready to start shooting another sports movie, Happy Gilmore 2, a huge fan favorite set in the golfing world.

So, what’s the movie supposed to be about anyway? Well, we know it’s set in the world of high-end sports card collecting in the ’90s. Affleck plays a retired baseball pitcher trying to make a comeback, while Sandler’s character is a sports memorabilia agent looking to cash in on that comeback. Sounds pretty wild, right? But that’s about all we’ve got - just enough to get us intrigued but not enough to know if this thing will ever see the light of day.

In the meantime, Josh Safdie’s not just sitting around. He’s gearing up to shoot a different sports movie this fall, this one about ping pong, with Timothée Chalamet starring. Yeah, you read that right - a ping pong movie. Also for A24, by the way. Once that’s wrapped, maybe, just maybe, he’ll get back to the baseball project with Sandler. We can only hope.

So for now, the Sandler-Safdie baseball movie is on the back burner, but we’ll keep our ears to the ground. If anything changes, you’ll be the first to know. Until then, we’ll just have to keep imagining what could’ve been.