FanHouse RonShelton

Last month Tim Robbins and writer/director Ron Shelton openly discussed the possibility of a Bull Durham sequel with the media during a 20th anniversary ceremony for the film at Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Well, it seems like the project is gaining steam, at least if you believe the New York Post's gossip page (via SbB):

THE long-awaited sequel to "Bull Durham" is finally getting off the ground. A spy tells us Kevin Costner recently met with director Ron Shelton at Trader Vic's in LA to discuss reprising the role of carousing catcher Crash Davis from the 1988 baseball flick. Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon are also expected to return as pitcher Nuke LaLoosh and baseball groupie Annie Savoy, who are now married and owners of a Major League team that Costner manages.

Wait, Nuke and Annie get married? And they somehow own a major league team? Last month Shelton and Robbins suggested that Crash and Annie would be married, and that Nuke would be a washed-up drunk. What gives?

My guess is that nobody is right. Shelton admitted that he only recently warmed up to the idea of a sequel, so I'd wager that an actual script has yet to be written (and once it does, it probably won't be leaked before the project even starts filming). But for better or worse, it looks like this is really going to happen.

If you're ranking the best baseball movies ever made, The Natural would be near the top, and Field of Dreams wouldn't be far behind. At the risk of being laughed at, I'd include For Love of the Game (aka, "Kevin Costner's other baseball movie") in the discussion, too, that's probably because I'm a Tigers fan first and an objective film critic second.

But what's the best baseball movie ever made? Why, Bull Durham, of course. To this day, Crash Davis and Nuke LaLoosh still serve as timeless archetypes of the grizzled farmhand and the spoiled bonus baby. It's an absolute masterpiece ... which is why talk of a sequel kind of scares me.

Speaking on Friday at the Baseball Hall of Fame to commeorate the film's 20th anniversary, writer/director Ron Shelton and Timothy "Nuke" Robbins revealed they've kicked the idea around to make another film. From Mark McGuire of the Times Union (via BBTF):

"My view of his major-league career is he went up there and in his second year in the majors he was 18-4. In his third year he was 4-18," Shelton said. "It was a sort of an unrealized career in which we saw glimpses of his greatness."

Crash Davis, the grizzled catcher, "is now managing Durham in Triple A, back with a (major-league) dream alive again," Shelton said. "I think he's kept this wonderful hot relationship with Annie, who probably has the Faulkner Chair in Oxford, Miss."

I've always been incredibly dubious of sports movies based on real-life professional athletes. Maybe it's because I've watched them play or seen footage of them and when I see some actor portraying that athlete in a film -- I can't help but think that, well, it doesn't look like them. And welp, that sort of ruins it for me. (A poor logic base, yes. Let's just blame all those horrible ESPN made-for-TV movies instead, huh?)

In any event, HBO Films has bought the rights to "Game of Shadows," the now famous book that brought all Barry Bonds' steroid use and the like to light. The details:

Ron Shelton has been set by HBO Films to direct a pic about San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds that will air on HBO.

[ ... ]

Shelton will write the script with his "Tin Cup" writing partner John Norville as soon as the writers strike ends. The film will be exec produced by Ross Greenburg, the HBO Sports president who exec produced Roger Maris biopic "61*," and Michael Greenburg ("Stargate SG-1"), who's now exec producer of Score Prods.

Shelton also has "White Men Can't Jump" and "Bull Durham" to his credit, so he knows his way around some solid sports movie. But honestly, who the heck are they going to get to portray Bonds? I think The Dugout fellas might have that answer for us tomorrow ...