The beloved and iconic film The Sandlot could be making a return in an entirely new way.
Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox is working on a prequel to the original film, which was released in 1993.
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David Mickey Evans, The Sandlot‘s writer and director, is working on a screenplay alongside Austin Reynolds.
The outlet details that the project is only in “early development,” but is said to dive into the legend of “the Beast,” the vicious dog who terrorizes the entire team in the baseball film.
Colin Greten and Daria Cercek are said to be overseeing the movie, which would take place prior to the 1960s.
This would be the first foray into the Sandlot franchise since 2007’s The Sandlot: Heading Home, a direct-to-video release starring Luke Perry and Danny Nucci.
Evans was not involved in that project, but he did direct and narrate The Sandlot 2 in 2005. That direct-to-video film starred Max Lloyd-Jones, James Willson, Samantha Burton and James Earl Jones.
The original movie features Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry), a young boy who moves to a new neighborhood and joins the community baseball team. The boys, including Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez (Mike Vitar) and Hamilton “Ham” Porter (Patrick Renna), engage in various activities all summer, including facing off with “The Beast” and its presumably terrifying owner Mr. Mertle (Jones).
No word on if any of these actors would return for a the prequel in some capacity.
The original cast remains connected to the film, with several members recently making appearances around the country in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary and a reissue of the movie onto Blu-ray.
Evans joined them on many of these stops and seems just as connected to the project today as he ever was.
“When I write a movie, I write it for myself,” Evans told The Morning Call. “It turns out, luckily for me, when I write for myself and I like it, other people like it as well. I used to question it; I don’t anymore. The minute you start getting arrogant about it, you’re dead.”
“You can go an entire career, a lifetime of being a writer and never get anything that even remotely approaches that,” Evans said. “I remain intensely grateful to fans who have embraced and continue to embrace it and keep passing it on to the next generation.”
No other details on the Sandlot prequel are available at this time.
