New ‘Longest Yard’ Reboot in the Works

The Longest Yard is going for a three-peat. According to Deadline, another remake of the football film is in the works at Paramount Pictures. The script is being written by Rodney Barnes, who was an executive producer and writer on the HBO basketball series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. The first Longest Yard film was released in 1974 and starred Burt Reynolds. The second movie was released in 2005 and starred Adam Sandler. 

The upcoming film comes from Gunpowder & Sky, whose CEO, Van Toffler, was an executive producer on the 2005 version when he worked at Viacom. Toffler is producing the movie with former MTV Films boss David Gale. The 1974 movie was based on a story by Al Ruddy and directed by Robert Aldrich. Reynolds starred as Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, a former star quarterback serving an 18-month prison sentence. Paul puts together a football team with other inmates to take on the prison guards. 

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The 2005 flim was directed by Peter Segal and written by Sheldon Turner. Sandler starred as a former NFL quarterback serving a three-year prison sentence after being involved in a high-speed police chase and car crash. He puts together a football team for a reduced sentence, and the film also featured  Chris Rock, James Cromwell, Nelly and Reynolds, who played Coach Nate Scarborough. 

The 1974 Longest Yard movie earned $43 million and a 76 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2005 movie earned $191.5 million and a 31 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. In 2018, Reynolds, who died later that year, said he never saw the 2005 Longest Yard film. “I didn’t see,” he told USA Today. “I didn’t want to see it.”

Reynolds did say that Sandler was a “very good athlete.” But he made it clear that he agreed to be in the flim for the paycheck. “I said, ‘Well, good luck. And how many days am I working? Three days?’ I said, ‘OK. And how much money is it? OK, this is good.’” The original Longest Yard was nominated for an Academy Award in 1974 for Best Film Editing. The film also earned four Golden Globe Awards and won one for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.