Los Angeles | Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks and director Marielle Heller are set to reunite for a baseball dramedy feature film.
According to Variety, the project is an adaptation of "The Comebacker", a short story by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers, with Heller directing.
Hanks and Heller, who first collaborated for the 2019 Oscar-nominated film "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood", will also produce through their respective production banners.
The movie has attracted multiple studio bidders, with Sony Pictures, which also released "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood", said to be in pole position to acquire the project.
Sources told the outlet that pop star Bad Bunny and Oscar nominee Colman Domingo are also in discussion to feature in the project.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, is currently on a world tour running through the end of July, while Domingo's involvement is also at an early stage.
Eggers' work has previously served as source material for two other Hanks films -- "A Hologram for the King" (2016) and "The Circle" (2017).
"The Comebacker", which is the first short in Eggers' collection titled "The Forgetters", follows Lionel, a fading sports journalist whose passion for his craft is reignited by a minor league pitcher called up to the majors.
The pitcher, who suffered a skull injury from a ball hit back at him, subsequently exhibits unusual behaviour including poetic speech that gives Lionel's writing new resonance. The story is set around the San Francisco Giants, though the screenplay is expected to revolve around the New York Mets.
