Caffeinated Clint
I interviewed “Major League” writer-director David S.Ward for my “Caffeinated Clint Greats” series last year. We largely spoke in length about the original 1989 film (and it’s sequels) but I did manage to get confirmation out of him that a fourth “Major League” movie was in the works.
Ward told me that the new film would ideally reunite near every cast member of the original film – Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes (who didn’t appear in “Major League 2” because the studio couldn’t afford him) and Tom Berenger, and so on -but cast some young bucks to play the Indian’s new recruits.
The story, Ward said, was set “20 years later, and Wild Thing comes out of retirement to work with this 19-year-old player.
“We’ve actually got three new characters in the new film. And if the new film is popular, they could carry the franchise on”.”
With Charlie Sheen now out stumping the project and telling the media that he’ll definitely do it if the price is right, more details have started to surface regarding said film.
The Hollywood Reporter got on the phone with Ward, and though the trade didn’t get much more out of the writer/director than we did last year (which, I must say, was quite a bit of info), he did offer up a couple of more details…and a couple of more names that would be involved in the picture, including “24” fave Dennis Haysbert, who would reprise his role as Pedro Cerrano. Ward also says, despite reports he wouldn’t be invovled, Corbin Bernsen would be back as Roger Dorn.
“That was a early draft where he wasn’t. But I figured out a way to incorporate him”, Ward said.
Ward’s also of the belief that there’s no movie unless they can get Charlie Sheen.
“There is no movie without Wild Thing,” says Ward.
“Charlie is interested in doing it,” says Ward. “We’re taking the first steps on it. Now it’s just a matter of putting the movie together in the timeframe we have. Charlie has a window coming up.”
The film, as I mentioned previously, essentially centers around Sheen’s character.
“It’s 20 years later Charlie’s character has been out of baseball since he gave up the walk-off homerun in the seventh game of the World Series,” says Ward. “But the team wants him back to mentor this young fireballing relief pitching.”
Haysbert’s Pedro Cerrano would now be a Coach, as would Willie Hayes, the character played by the currently-incarcerated Snipes. There will also be three new younger characters.
Though the film has yet to get the greenlight over at Morgan Creek, Ward says the script has been well received.
