Sony Pictures has set July 30, 2027, for Tom Hanks’ baseball comedy The Comebacker, putting a date on a project that had already drawn a heated bidding war. Marielle Heller is directing the film, which is now moving toward a summer release more than two years away.
That date is why the film is surfacing now: it gives Sony a firm anchor for a Hanks-led title built around an older beat reporter whose passion for the game, the team he covers and his job comes back to life when a new pitcher arrives. The script comes from a short story by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers, and Gary Goetzman will produce through Playtone with Leah Holzer producing through Defiant by Nature.
For Hanks, The Comebacker extends a long run with Eggers’ work. He appeared in A Hologram for the King in 2016 and The Circle in 2017, then returned to Sony for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which brought him a 2019 Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, and A Man Called Otto in 2022. This new film is the third time he has starred in an adaptation of Eggers’ writing, and Sony’s release calendar again puts him at the center of one of its prestige plays.
There is still unfinished business inside the cast. Bad Bunny and Colman Domingo are eyeing roles, but neither has been locked in, leaving the film’s lineup open even as the release date is fixed. The project is also being made in cooperation with Major League Baseball, which gives the story a real-game backdrop that fits the character at its center.
So the next confirmed milestone is not a casting announcement but the date itself: July 30, 2027. Until then, Sony has a release, Heller has a film, and Hanks has another Eggers adaptation waiting to see which names join him on the roster.
