‘Rookie of the Year’ Remake in the Works at 20th Century Fox

Rookie of the Year Remake

Another day, another beloved childhood movie from over two decades ago is getting a remake.

Rookie of the Year is a childhood favorite of plenty of kids who grew up in the early ’90s. The film followed Thomas Ian Nicholas as a young kid who breaks his arm after slipping on a baseball, only to have it heal with his tendons much tighter than they were before, giving him an incredible pitching arm. When he throws a foul ball into home plate from the outfield, the Chicago Cubs recruit him to be their new pitcher. Now the movie is getting remade.

Deadline broke the news of the Rookie of the Year remake, which will bring back the original film’s producer Bob Harper in the same capacity. As for the script, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand will be writing with the former possibly sitting in the director’s chair as well. The duo most recently wrote Most Likely to Murder, a comedy starring Adam Pally and Rachel Bloom that played South by Southwest earlier this year.

The original film did respectable business back in 1993, earning over $53 million at the domestic box office. It wasn’t a critical darling by any means, especially since it’s kind of a goofy family comedy, but it has quite the following of children of the ’90s as well as Chicago Cubs fans. In fact, star Thomas Ian Nicholas has thrown out first pitches multiple times at Wrigley Field, and it’s probably the role he’s best known for today outside of the American Pie franchise.

Home Alone star Daniel Stern directed the original, and he also co-starred in the movie as the wacky pitching coach Phil Brickma, a character he revived when the Cubs were on their way to the World Series championship. Hopefully, they bring him and some of the other cast members back in some capacity just for shits and giggles.

One question we have about the Rookie of the Year remake is whether or not it will still feature the Chicago Cubs as the team the young accidental professional pitcher ends up on. It could easily end up being another one of the Major League Baseball teams. But I hope it doesn’t end up being a situation where MLB doesn’t cooperate, and we get one of those fake teams, like in Any Given Sunday or The Replacements.

Furthermore, even though this is a Fox movie, is there a chance this is being developed with an eye towards being an eventual release on the Disney Play streaming service when the acquisition of 20th Century Fox is finalized? That remains to be seen.

As for whether or not the Rookie of the Year remake is necessary or wanted, that will be for the audience to decide. The concept is a fun one that could use an update for the current generation of kids. But it’s also a movie that doesn’t necessarily benefit from a contemporary adaptation either. Of course, they’re already giving a sequel to Space Jam and planning a prequel to The Sandlot, so nothing is off limits.