Now you're really killing me, Smalls. THE SANDLOT celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary earlier this year and it seems that 20th Century Fox is hoping that we'll be down for more of the cult coming-of-age sports comedy…in the form of a prequel. What?
Deadline has reported that the studio is in early development on a prequel to THE SANDLOT and that David Mickey Evans, writer and director of the original film, is also attached to co-write the script with Austin Reynolds. Plot-details are under wraps, but Deadline has heard that it will involve the legend of "the Beast" from the first film, the fearsome English Mastiff who occupied the junkyard behind the sandlot. THE SANDLOT revolved around Scottie Smalls (Tom Guiry), the new kid in the neighbourhood who desperately tried to fit in with a group of boys who play baseball in the sandlot. The film also starred Mike Vitar (Benjamin “Benny” Franklin Rodriguez), Patrick Renna (Hamilton “Ham” Porter), Chauncey Leopardi (Michael “Squints” Palledorous), Victor DiMattia (Timmy Timmons), Marty York (Alan “Yeah-Yeah” McClennan), Shane Obedzinski (Tommy “Repeat” Timmons), Grant Gelt (Bertram Grover Weeks), Brandon Quintin Adams (Kenny DeNunez) and James Earl Jones (Mr. Mertle).
THE SANDLOT went on to spawn two direct-to-video sequels, including THE SANDLOT 2 and THE SANDLOT: HEADING HOME. Here's hoping that the prequel fares better. The original film came along at just the right moment in my life as I was absolutely in love with baseball at the time, and every spare moment I had was spent practicing throwing, hitting, and catching. As my neighbourhood didn't have anything remotely like the sandlot featured in the film, I quickly fell in love with THE SANDLOT as well. I'm all for another sports comedy along the same lines as THE SANDLOT, but do we really need a prequel?