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From:The Seatle Times Author:By Mark Rahner Seattle Times staff reporter (The detail is here) Sometimes, waiting for movies to come out on video can give you the distance you need. "Hardball" (Paramount) was in theaters just days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and moviegoers in need of positive distraction made it successful. Hey, I'll even admit to being deeply moved by "Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" that weekend. Everyone was desperate. Months later, "Hardball," with Keanu Reeves as a ghetto kids' baseball coach, seems a) not as bad as you'd expect, and b) not too good, either. Reeves is as wooden as a Louisville Slugger in the role of a sports-betting addict whose debts become hazardous to his health. A friend offers him $500 a week to take the inner-city Chicago job with a foul-mouthed team. Diane Lane is the love interest as the kids' teacher who sees Reeves' potential as Someone They Can Believe In. Add that schmaltz liquor formula with attempted ghetto rawness for such touching moments as this: At the funeral of a kid gunned down in a drive-by, Reeves tells the distraught boys they don't have to play anymore. He turns to leave. One of the boys calls out to him, "We WANT to play," topping off the sentiment with a bracing epithet. Inspiring.
From:SF GATE Author:DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer (The detail is here) "Hardball"If you can believe Keanu Reeves as humanity's savior in "The Matrix," you might be able to buy him as coach and mentor to an inner-city boys' baseball team in this sports soap opera. Bonus material on the DVD is mostly mundane, including a making-of documentary, music video and three deleted scenes that add little. In audio commentary, director Brian Robbins and screenwriter John Gatins discuss the authenticity they gained shooting in Chicago, with a former tavern used for Reeves' bar scenes and a real house of worship and its priest appearing in a church sequence. Robbins and Gatins are especially interesting discussing how the 10 boys -- mostly film newcomers -- were whipped into shape through acting and baseball minicamp. DVD, $29.99. (Paramount)
From:Canadian Press (The detail is here) Hardball (Paramount) - Keanu Reeves has been given a hard time by critics in recent years and perhaps rightly so. His acting style works only in certain films (the Bill & Ted movies, Parenthood) and he has been woefully out of his depth in others. Maybe it's time to give him a break on this admittedly heavy-handed feel-good drama. Yes, it's filled with cliches but sometimes you have to go with the emotional flow. Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, a slacker with a bad gambling habit who has to take on a job coaching some little league kids from the worst of the Chicago ghetto projects. His plan is to dump the obligation as soon as he pays off the loan sharks, but surprise, he begins to fall for the wee tykes and sticks it out right to the emotional come-from-behind finale. Oh, and he just might get the pretty schoolmarm (Diane Lane), too, as part of his redemptive journey.
From:SF gate (The detail is here) (11-29) 07:32 PST CHICAGO (AP) -- A federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against the movie "Hardball" by a Little League coach who said the hard-drinking, ticket-scalping coach in the film is supposed to be him. Securities trader Robert Muzikowski had asked for $11 million in damages from Paramount Pictures and a group of co-defendants for the movie inspired by the book "Hardball: A Season in the Projects." Muzikowski is a central figure in the book about an inner-city Little League coach. But U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras on Wednesday said the coach in the movie, Conor O'Neill, was not necessarily Muzikowski. "The character could reasonably be construed to refer to someone other that Muzikowski or to no actual person at all," the judge said in a 10-page ruling. Kocoras said he partly based his conclusion on the differences between Muzikowski and the fictional O'Neill, played by Keanu Reeves. Muzikowski is a teetotaler who got involved with Little League for philanthropic reasons; O'Neill did it to pay off a gambling debt. "Hardball" topped the box office the week it opened in September and has grossed more than $39 million. Judge throws out defamation suit against 'Hardball'
Wednesday, November 28, 2001
Date:28-Nov-2001 Judge throws out defamation suit against 'Hardball'(11-28) 17:56 PST CHICAGO (AP) -- A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a defamation suit against the movie "Hardball" by a Little League coach who says the hard-drinking, ticket-scalping coach in the film is supposed to be him. Securities trader Robert Muzikowski had asked for $11 million in damages from Paramount Pictures and a group of co-defendants for the movie inspired by the book "Hardball: A Season in the Projects." Muzikowski is a central figure in the book about an inner-city Little League coach played by Keanu Reeves. But Judge Charles P. Kocoras held that movie coach Conor O'Neill was not necessarily Muzikowski. "The character could reasonably be construed to refer to someone other that Muzikowski or to no actual person at all," U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras said in a 10-page ruling, dismissing the suit. Kocoras said part of his conclusion was based on the differences between Muzikowski and the fictional O'Neill. For example, Muzikowski is a teetotaler who got involved with Little League for philanthropic reasons in contrast to O'Neill who did so to pay off a gambling debt. The movie topped the box office the weekend it was released.
From:Boston.com (The detail is here) WILD PITCH: A federal judge has ruled that Chicago securities trader Robert Muzikowski and Keanu Reeves are not the same. The judge threw out Muzikowski's defamation lawsuit, in which he claimed that the hard-drinking character played by Reeves in the recent movie ''Hardball'' is supposed to be him. Muzikowski had asked for $11 million in damages from Paramount Pictures and a group of codefendants, who adapted the movie from the book ''Hardball: A Season in the Projects.'' Muzikowski figures heavily in the book, about an inner-city Little League coach. In a 10-page ruling, US District Judge Charles P. Kocoras this week said he partly based his conclusion on the differences between Muzikowski and the fictional character played by Reeves. Muzikowski is a teetotaler who got involved with Little League for philanthropic reasons; Reeves's character did it to pay off a gambling debt.
From:zap2it.com (The detail is here) Keanu Reeves' 'Hardball' Wins in Courtroom Final InningHOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - A federal judge dismissed a defamation suit yesterday by a Little League coach against the movie "Hardball," the Associated Press reports. Securities trader Robert Muzikowski claimed that the hard-drinking cynical movie coach Conor O'Neill (played by Keanu Reeves) was based on him and had asked for $11 million in damages from Paramount Pictures as well as other defendants. But Judge P. Kocoras said in a 10-page ruling that "The character could reasonably be construed to refer to someone other that Muzikowski or to no actual person at all." Based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects, the film centers on a ticket-scalping baseball coach who, in order to pay off a gambling debt, agrees to coach an inner-city Little League team. Part of Kocoras' conclusion was based on the fact that Muzikowski was involved in Little League coaching for more philanthropic reasons.
From:Chicago Sun Times (The detail is here) 'Hardball' suit tossedA federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a defamation suit against Paramount Pictures by former Little League coach Robert Muzikowski, a central figure in a book that was turned into the movie "Hardball," starring Keanu Reeves. The book Hardball: A Season in the Projects was about a youth baseball league coach in Cabrini-Green. Muzikowski, a Chicago securities trader, claimed he was falsely portrayed as an alcoholic and compulsive gambler and was seeking $11 million in damages. But U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras said that movie coach Conor O'Neill was not necessarily Muzikowski.
From:Sanfrancisco Chronicle (The detail is here) LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Brian Robbins wanted his film about an inner-city Little League team to be as realistic as possible. So he shot "Hardball," which opened at No. 1 this weekend with $9.3 million, at a Chicago housing project. Robbins told Associated Press Television News that it was "extremely rough and scary at times," but worth it. "I wanted to get the sense of the buildings so we actually built our baseball field right in like the quad of these buildings," he said. The movie was inspired by Daniel Coyle's book about his time coaching a baseball team in Chicago's housing projects. Keanu Reeves plays Conor O'Neill, who scalps tickets to finance his real occupation: losing heaps of money on sports bets. Robbins also said the kids in "Hardball" required some extra pointers because many of them were making their film debut. "We did improvs and we talked about staging and blocking and, you know, staying in character," he said. "And it worked."
From:Dallas Observer (The detail is here) Author:Bill Gallo Covering the BasesFaced with yet another sports movie in which a group of lovably troubled kids triumphs over adversity, it's easier to scoff and grumble than to feel even partially uplifted. So let's do it; let's scoff and grumble, at least for a moment. In Brian Robbins' Hardball, a degenerate gambler who owes bent-nosed, bat-wielding Chicago bookies many thousands of bucks is coerced into coaching a kids' baseball team in a hardscrabble neighborhood. Predictably, he and the boys have their ups and downs. Predictably, tragedy threatens to put them asunder. But in the end the reluctant coach's sour masochism is predictably transformed into self-respect as the plucky 10-year-olds in his care begin to discover their own worth, too. Hey. Wanna know how the Big Game comes out? Hint: If our hero could have bet on it, he wouldn't be in this mess. Here's the feel-good part. Hardball is not as bad as it sounds, and at its best it's charming. Wooden, uncertain Keanu Reeves is no Walter Matthau, the memorable curmudgeon who led The Bad News Bears to the top of the all-time kiddie-baseball-movie standings 25 years ago. But Reeves' self-conscious stumbling as an actor actually works in his favor here. As Conor O'Neill, the gambler-turned-surrogate-father, he comes off as an overgrown preteen himself, a guy who doesn't know how to act until his players show him who he really is. Meanwhile, director Robbins (the former Head of the Class star) has every sports-movie trope known to man waiting in the on-deck circle. No surprise there: His credits include the high school football comedy Varsity Blues and the equally lightweight wrestling farce Ready to Rumble. As for the boys--all of them unknowns, most of them from Chicago--they are uniformly cute, likable and heartrending (only the second baseman is playing with a doctored birth certificate). They include Michael Perkins as Kofi, star slugger for our ragtag Kekambas (named for an African tribe); Julian Griffith as plump, sweet-tempered Jefferson, who suffers from asthma; A. Delon Ellis Jr. as Miles, who can't get his heater over the plate unless Notorious B.I.G. is blasting through his headphones; and little DeWayne Warren as G-Baby, the Kekambas' loyal mascot. That half the roster doesn't yet have much acting skill doesn't really matter. We want them to hit line drives, win games and wise off, not recite excerpts from Othello. The movie's genesis lies in Daniel Coyle's 1994 memoir, Hardball: A Season in the Projects, about the author's experiences coaching a youth baseball team in Chicago's rough Cabrini-Green housing project. Screenwriter John Gatins has tinkered with Coyle's book, presumably to up the emotional ante and provide more opportunities for redemption. The protagonist is no longer a yuppie stockbroker but Reeves' down-at-the-heels desperado, and the obligatory Hollywood love interest has been duly inserted, in the person of Diane Lane as an idealistic schoolteacher who comes to see the potential for sweetness and light in lost soul Conor O'Neill. Apart from setting career highs in the cliché column, Hardball's overseers have some very peculiar ideas about sports betting and bookmakers. But they get at least one crucial thing exactly right: Kids don't just love baseball; they think the game is magic, and the sheer joy Robbins conjures up as the Kekambas take the field is as real as anything you'll see in any baseball movie, from It Happens Every Spring to Field of Dreams. Kofi and Miles and the others may not exactly be angels in the outfield--angels don't call each other "bitch"--but these terrific kids clearly come under the spell of the game. And when their coach, converted at last to the innocence of their belief, hauls the whole team off to Comiskey Park (the old Comiskey, it turns out) to see the White Sox play the Cubs, the movie hits an emotional peak. But what of the movie's tragic shock? Truth be told, it feels like manipulation, like the moviemakers' failure to resist their own worst impulses and Hollywood's demand for blunt melodrama. The same goes for Hardball's emphasis on the troubled coach rather than the troubled kids. Oh, well. Even in a championship season, you can't expect to hit everything out of the park.
From:Chicago Suntimes (The detail is here) Author:RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Not to worry, 'Hardball' won't be bad PR for citySeptember 10, 2001 BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST TO: MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, City Hall FROM: RICHARD ROEPER, Chicago Sun-Times Dear Mayor Daley: It was just about this time last year that you and your old buddy Paul Vallas and other folks were working yourselves into a lather over the movie "Hardball,'' based on the Daniel Coyne book about the Little League teams who played in the shadows of the Cabrini-Green housing projects. Even as the movie was being made in Chicago, you were expressing your indignation over the news that the children in the film reportedly would be using rough language, including the f-word, and your concerns that the real-life league, its organizers and the city itself--would be maligned. "It's the 'Clockwork Orange' version of 'The Bad News Bears,' " warned Vallas, who added that the movie "reinforces negative stereotypes,'' and that Hollywood "needs to be a little more responsible.'' And you, Mister Mayor, said: "[The filmmakers] don't want this movie to portray all the good things they've done. [The real] kids don't use four-letter words. The kids are not how they're portrayed, as well as the coaches.'' Meanwhile, one of the real-life coaches filed a suit to block the movie's release--a suit that was denied just last week. You're a real movie buff, your honor, so your criticism surprised me. For one thing, a fictional work of drama inspired by a real-life inner-city Little League team--even one with kids swearing--hardly sounded like the most damaging big-screen treatment Chicago has ever endured. What about "The Untouchables,'' with that lovely scene of Robert De Niro's Al Capone clubbing an associate to death with a baseball bat? Or "Candyman,'' with a bogeyman ghost-killer on a murder rampage in Cabrini-Green? Or even "Chain Reaction,'' in which Keanu blew up eight square city blocks on the South Side? Maybe there was no controversy over those movies because they were dramatic stories, Mayor Daley--as is "Hardball.'' Yes, like "The Untouchables,'' it uses some actual events and characters as the launching point for its stylized story, but that's been the case with thousands of films, from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' to "Gladiator.'' These ain't documentaries. I talked to Keanu last Saturday in Toronto about the controversy, and he told me he was "frustrated'' by your comments--and that the swearing was never gratuitous. In fact his character tells the kids if they can't say something nice about each other on the field, they shouldn't say a word. (As far as the lawsuit is concerned, Reeves said he signed onto the project based on the fictional character in the screenplay, not the book or the people involved in the league.) Starting this Friday, your honor, "Hardball'' will actually be shown in theaters across the country--and it's my belief that the reputations of the league, its players and the city have not been damaged in the least. Not that you're going to appreciate the way these kids talk. Even though all mentions of the f-word have been dropped at the studio's behest so that "Hardball'' would get a PG-13 instead of an R rating, the kids still pepper their dialogue with some rough talk. "I can pound that s--- to the gate,'' brags one player as he steps into the batter's box. "S--- you hit me, huh bitch?'' says another kid when he's plunked by a pitch. Other sample dialogue from the mouths of the babes: "I'm tired of your s---, bitch!'' "We wanna play, bitch, hell yeah." "Damn, that s--- is tight." There's also a shootout between rival gangs, a scene of a kid getting robbed and beaten, some hard talk from the boys about their absentee fathers--and the fact that the kids use a song called "Big Poppa" by the late Notorious B.I.G. as their unofficial theme. (From the chorus: "If you got a gun up in your waist please don't shoot up the place, cause I see some ladies tonight who should be havin' my baby . . .") As for the coach played by Reeves, he's a hard-drinking loser with a gambling problem who takes over the team only because he's being paid $500 a week--which means he's nothing like the real-life men who donated their time and their hearts to the Near West Little League. Of course, this being a movie, Keanu undergoes some dramatic changes as the story progresses. And by the time the credits roll, "Hardball" has done justice to the players, the league and the city. I can't imagine that anyone who sees this movie will walk out with a negative impression of the real-life people and places who inspired the story. Besides, your honor, let's be honest. The tough language, the rap soundtrack and the gang violence in this film aren't products of Hollywood's imagination, are they? They're mirrors of society. I told Keanu that you were a real movie buff, and a fair man. So here's the deal: I'll spring for the tickets and even the popcorn and the sodas if you'd like to see "Hardball.'' And remember, for a quarter more you can get a large size drink. It's a real bargain. Your fellow movie-lover, Richard RoeperSeptember 10, 2001
From:news.excite.com (The detail is here) Keanu Reeves Arrives at the World Premiere of his Latest...Tue, Sep 11 09:44 AMKeanu Reeves arrives at the world premiere of his latest film, "Hardball," Monday, Sept. 10, 2001, in Los Angeles. Reeves plays a down-on-his-luck guy who ends up coaching a baseball team of underprivileged Chicago youths. Photo by Rene Macura (AP) From:news.excite.com(The detail is here) Keanu Reeves and Amanda De Cadenet Arrive Premiere of "Hardball"Mon, Sep 10 09:12 PMActor Keanu Reeves, who stars in the motion picture "Hardball" poses with girlfriend, actress Amanda De Cadenet upon arriving the Los Angeles premiere of the film September 10, 2001 at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood. REUTERS/Jim Ruymen (Reuters) 
From:dailynews.yahoo.com (The detail is here) Author:Robert Koehler Keanu Reeves reaches acting limits in ``Hardball''Hardball (Sports drama, color, PG-13, 1:46) By Robert Koehler HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - There's no cork inside ``Hardball,'' but there's more than enough corn. Everything about the movie is geared for maximum uplifting and tear-jerking effect, and seems designed, in the end, to question the old saw that there's no crying in baseball. John Gatins' script has taken Daniel Coyle's autobiographical ``Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' an account of coaching a youth baseball team in Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing project, as a launching pad for a flight into pure Hollywood sentiment, and more problematically, into realms of race relations which pic is much too insecure about to explore honestly. It links up nicely, and compares favorably, to the other romance about the diamonds from helmer Brian Robbins and co-producing partner Mike Tollin, ``Summer Catch,'' whose current box office choke is so thorough that it will take nothing from their new film's rookie week. Post-Labor Day-release timing is passing strange, however, since this is a drama intended as a family outing, albeit with enough course language to stretch the credibility of the generous PG-13 rating. As if he were carrying around the ghosts of every melodramatic hero of movies past from Ray Milland to Montgomery Clift, Keanu Reeves stars as Conor O'Neill, a wastrel hooked on sports betting and utterly blind to the clues that he should stop. Conor fails to cover the spread on a Bulls game and, in true Cliftian form, after being caught by sports bar owner Duffy (Graham Beckel), to whom he owes a bundle, he bashes his fist into a car window and his head into a bar window with the gloomy exit line, ``No one can kick my ass better than me.'' Like vultures, other bookies swoop in on Conor for what he owes them, and not even pal and gambling enabler Ticky (John Hawkes) can help, except by bailing him out of jail. Expecting to get a favor from his friend Jimmy (Mike McGlone), who's a slick broker at a downtown Chicago brokerage firm, Conor is told by Jimmy to help him coach a youth league baseball squad, the Kekambas, that the firm sponsors. His pay of $500 per week will immediately go to his hungry bookies. But what Jimmy actually does is dump Conor with the team of 10-year-olds, with no tips on how to manage a group of young black kids growing up in the city's toughest project. There have been few movie characters all year more obviously intended for redemption than Conor, and from the start, despite the story's true origins, it feels like a setup. Conor could not be more of a lost soul; the kids, many of whom could not be cuter (especially Julian Griffith as chubby, asthmatic Jefferson and DeWayne Warren as little Jarius), also could not be more ready for a male adult in their lives; and to set the fires going, Conor has beautiful but tough-minded teacher Elizabeth Wilkes (Diane Lane) to steer him. Even when it looks like these feisty, foul-mouthed kids can't possibly form a cohesive unit, well, have no fear: Conor is able to put his foot down, satisfy the boys with pizza and even take them on a glorious trip to Wrigley Field. Not even a heart-wrenching tragedy, stretched past the point of extreme pathos, can stop this team from winning the league championship and redeeming Conor. In a telling scene that displays his limits as an actor able to convey life's funny ironies, Reeves' way with Conor makes him look more like a schizophrenic than a man wrestling with his conscience. This becomes a serious problem for the movie as a whole, since the story is almost entirely from Conor's point of view. Unconsciously or not, Gatins' script positions Conor as the Great White Protector, the only one in the end (despite Elizabeth and several mothers who clearly know right from wrong) who can bring these boys into manhood. It's a troublesome theme that the pic simply lacks the substance to examine, superficially laying it out as something to swallow, along with the corn. Most of the young actors may have been cast first for their skills on the field (shown more effectively here than in the minor-league play of ``Summer Catch''), but some are terrific outside the lines. Griffith is asked to play the movie's poster child of pain, but he does it with all his heart, as does Warren, who's a tiny fireball of energy and trash talk. As cocky Andre, Bryan C. Hearne suggests a jock-to-come, while Michael Perkins provides quiet intensity as troubled-but-talented Kofi. Brian M. Reed as a goofy pitcher never overplays what could have become a cartoon. Neither too glossy nor convincingly rough edged, pic's look and sound play it down the middle, from Mark Isham's suitable background score and a stream of hip-hop selections to Tom Richmond's plain lensing. Conor O'Neill ............. Keanu Reeves Elizabeth Wilkes .......... Diane Lane Ticky Tobin ............... John Hawkes Andre Ray Peetes .......... Bryan C. Hearne Jefferson Albert Tibbs .... Julian Griffith Jamal ..................... Michael Jordan Miles Pennfield II ........ A. Delon Ellis Jr. Clarence .................. Kristopher Lofton Kofi Evans ................ Michael Perkins Raymont ``Ray Ray'' Bennet .. Brian M. Reed Jarius ``G-Baby'' Evans ..... DeWayne Warren Matt Hyland ............... D.B. Sweeney Jimmy Fleming ............. Mike McGlone Duffy ..................... Graham Beckel Fink ...................... Mark Margolis A Paramount Pictures release and presentation in association with Fireworks Pictures of a Nides/McCormick production and a Tollins/Robbins production. Produced by Tina Nides, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins. Executive producers, Kevin McCormick, Herbert W. Gains, Erwin Stoff. Directed by Brian Robbins. Screenplay, John Gatins, based on the book by Daniel Coyle. Camera (Deluxe color), Tom Richmond; editor, Ned Bastille; music, Mark Isham; music supervisor, Michael McQuarn; production designer, Jaymes Hinkle; set decorator, Patricia Schneider; costume designer, Francine Jamison-Tanchuck; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS), David Obermeyer; supervising sound editor, George Simpson; visual effects, Cinesite; visual effects producer, Mike Sullo; baseball coordinator, Mark Ellis; assistant director, Benjamin Rosenberg; casting, Marci Liroff. Reviewed at Warner Hollywood Studios screening room, Hollywood, Sept. 5, 2001. Reuters/Variety REUTERS
From:dailynews.yahoo.com (The detail is here) Judge Denies Motion to Block 'Hardball' PremiereCHICAGO (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday rejected a little league baseball coach's effort to block next week's opening of the movie ``Hardball,'' starring Keanu Reeves, which depicts coaches bullying players and players cursing. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Kocoras said free speech rights trumped the temporary restraining order sought by coach Bob Muzikowski, who has brought a defamation suit against Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, the studio that made ''Hardball.'' The movie, based on a former coach's nonfiction book of the same name, depicts the culture clash between poor, black children from Chicago's infamous Cabrini-Green public housing project and their mostly white, middle-class adult coaches. Muzikowski's suit against Paramount argues the gambling and alcoholic coach played by Reeves -- which is based on Muzikowski's real-life role -- defames him. The suit claims scenes of Reeves' character pushing players, and the 9- to 12-year-old players' cursing, was defamatory because such behavior was not allowed by the league. Muzikowski has written his own book about the league, ``Safe at Home,'' that bills itself as the ``true and inspiring story of Chicago's field of dreams.'' Paramount's attorney argued that ``Hardball'' is admittedly fictional, and is only inspired by a true story. The judge ordered Paramount to provide Muzikowski's lawyers with a copy of the movie as part of the discovery process for the lawsuit. The movie opens Sept. 14.
From:biz.yahoo.com (The detail is here) SOURCE: Paramount Pictures World Premiere of the Film 'Hardball'WHAT: World Premiere of the film ``Hardball'' Benefiting: HANK AARON CHASING THE DREAM FOUNDATION MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation is to give at-risk children, ages 9-12, the opportunity to achieve their dreams by granting monetary awards, which support a variety of needs: art lessons, transportation to dance class, individual time with a coach, musical instruments, a writing course or a week at camp. These awards encourage creative expression, promote physical fitness, expand knowledge of the world, help children gain confidence in their own abilities, require them to share responsibility for their own learning and engage them in meaningful relationships with caring adults.
Release Date: SEPTEMBER 14, 2001
Directed By: Brian Robbins
Produced By: Brian Robbins, Mike Tollin and Tina Nides
Executive Produced By: Herbert W. Gains, Kevin McCormick and
Erwin Stoff
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" for thematic elements,
language and some violence
ALL PRESS MUST BE ACCREDITED TO COVER ARRIVALS TO THE EVENT For further information, please call: Photo: Michael Berman, +1-323-956-4602, TV: Tim Menke, +1-323-956-5503, Print/Radio/Online: Susan Indri, +1-323-956-5915, or International: Alfred Pignat, +1-323-956-5551, all of Paramount Pictures. SOURCE: Paramount Pictures
From:biz.yahoo.com (The detail is here) SOURCE: Paramount Pictures 'Hardball,' Opens Nationwide on Friday, September 14 With Sneak Previews on Saturday, September 8HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- ``Hardball,'' will open nationwide in the United States and Canada in over 2100 theaters on Friday, September 14. The film will have sneak previews in select theatres nationwide on Saturday, September 8. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991206/PARLOGO ) Down on his luck, Conor O'Neill (Keanu Reeves) is offered an opportunity to wipe away his gambling debts if ... he'll take a job coaching a baseball team of underprivileged Chicago youths. As he molds the tough, street-smart youngsters into a cohesive unit, the impoverished kids offer O'Neill valuable lessons about trust and heart -- and a chance at redemption and purpose in his life. Keanu Reeves stars in ``Hardball,'' a Paramount Pictures presentation in association with Fireworks Pictures, directed by Brian Robbins. Diane Lane co-stars, and also appearing in the film are John Hawkes, D.B. Sweeney, Mike McGlone and Graham Beckel. The screenplay is by John Gatins, based upon the book by Daniel Coyle. The film is a Paramount Pictures presentation in association with Fireworks Pictures, and is a Nides/McCormick Production and a Tollin/Robbins Production. The executive producers are Kevin McCormick, Herbert W. Gains and Erwin Stoff. The producers are Tina Nides, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins. This film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for thematic elements, language and some violence.* Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, and music. Please include the rating and reasons for this rating in any film coverage. For further information contact, Gregg Brilliant, Vice President, National Publicity, of Paramount Pictures, +1-323-956-5872. SOURCE: Paramount Pictures
From:Chicago Sun Times (The detail is here) Author:Cindy Pearlman Hey, dude, spleen's up!
September 4, 2001 This was enough to make even the laid-back Keanu Reeves say, "Whoa!" When asked about the weirdest recent rumor about himself, the soft-spoken star said, "Oh, my God, I read this wild one that someone was trying to sell my spleen on the Internet. That's pretty wacky, especially since my spleen is in me." Reeves has the guts to star next week in "Hardball," which was shot in Cabrini-Green. He steps to the plate to give some kids a chance in the kid baseball drama, directed by Brian Robbins and based on the Daniel Coyle book Hardball: A Seasons in the Projects. "I love films where you can really find something that has been lost--namely your soul," he said. But it's not his soul-- it's his muscles that hurt, thanks to training for "The Matrix Reloaded," due out in 2003. Reeves already has had "a minor trauma on my ankle that put me in a cast for four days to help the tendons." He can't talk about the "Matrix" scripts but he admitted, "Last time all the fights for Neo were one on one. Now it's one on five." Cindy Pearlman
From:News.Yahoo.com (The detail is here) Tuesday August 28 08:30 PM EDT The Lil's Play Hard Pint-sized hip-hoppers Lil' Bow Wow , Lil' Zane, Lil' Wayne and -- Lil'-free but equally young -- Sammie, have teamed up for the title track and first single off the soundtrack to the film Hardball, starring Keanu Reeves. "Hardball" was produced by Jermaine Dupri and the video features all the Lil's, Sammie, footage from the film as well as cameos from the stars. Other artists on the soundtrack are Jagged Edge , Da Brat , R. Kelly , Mobb Deep , Notorious B.I.G. and newcomer Fundisha, whose "Insomnia" will be the second single from the soundtrack, which is due September 11th. Reeves stars as a petty criminal who turns little league coach in one of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods. The film hits theaters September 14th. Hardball tracklisting:
CHRISTINA SARACENO (August 28, 2001)
From:News.Yahoo.com SOURCE: Columbia Records Soundtrack To Paramount Pictures Release Features Music By Jermaine Dupri, Jagged Edge, the Notorious B.I.G., Da Brat, Mobb Deep, Lil Bow Wow, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Zane & Sammie and Fundisha NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2001-- In Stores September 11 So So Def Recordings / Sony Music Soundtrax is releasing Hardball (Music From The Motion Picture), the soundtrack album from the upcoming Paramount Pictures film starring Keanu Reeves and Diane Lane. Hardball (Music From The Motion Picture) is executive-produced by So So Def's multi-platinum hitmaker Jermaine Dupri & Michael Mauldin, COO of So So Def Recordings. Dupri--whose credits include production for Lil Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Usher and many, many others--played a part on every track on album as producer and/or performer. Hardball (Music From The Motion Picture) will be in stores on September 11. The film ``Hardball'' was inspired by journalist Daniel Coyle's true-life experiences coaching a Little League Team from Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project. Keanu Reeves stars as Conor, a ticket scalper and gambler who, in order to payoff a massive gambling debt, becomes a Little League coach in one of the toughest parts of Chicago. He soon becomes attached to his players and their attractive schoolteacher (Diane Lane). It is an experience that both changes his life and gives his young players new hope and pride. The film opens nationwide on September 14. Hardball (Music From The Motion Picture) 1. Fundisha -- ``Intro'' (Live The Life) 2. Lil Bow Wow, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Zane & Sammie -- ``Hardball'' 3. Big Tymers -- ``You Can't Break Me'' * 4. Jagged Edge featuring Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, R.O.C., Lil Bow Wow and Tigah --``Where The Party At'' Dupri Remix 5. Fundisha -- ``Insomnia'' 6. The Notorious B.I.G. -- ``Big Poppa'' 7. R.L. featuring Jermaine Dupri -- ``Ghetto'' 8. R. Kelly -- ``The Storm Is Over Now'' 9. Da Brat -- ``Ball Game'' 10. Mobb Deep -- ``Play'' 11. R.O.C. -- ``Who Ya Love'' 12. Xscape -- ``Rest Of My Life'' ``Hardball,'' the title track and first single from the film, is performed by So So Def's multi-platinum rap star Lil Bow Wow along with Lil' Wayne, Lil' Zane & Sammie in a once-in-a-lifetime urban music summit. The track is produced by Jermaine Dupri. A video for ``Hardball'' as performed by Bow Wow and friends was lensed in Los Angeles over the weekend of August 5 and includes footage from the feature film and guest appearances by many of the film's actors. ``Insomnia,'' the second single from Hardball (Music From The Motion Picture) introduces newcomer Fundisha whose neo-soul sound and vibe signals the arrival of a new urban music star. For more information, please contact Howard Wuelfing, Columbia Records, Media, New York, 212-833-8891; email: howard_wuelfing@sonymusic.com
From:Sonic.net (Detail is here) Author:Patrick Goldstein As recently as one month ago, Paramount studio chief Sherry Lansing was touting "Hardball" as an uncompromising R-rated movie with a no-holds-barred look at a desperate gambler (Keanu Reeves) who finds redemption coaching a baseball team of 10-year-olds from the Chicago projects. The movie had reams of foul language--from the kids--and a graphic shooting. However, earlier this month, in something of a no-holds-barred meeting with studio brass, director Brian Robbins was told to cut the movie so it could get a PG-13 rating. The 11th-hour move is just the latest example of how much post-FTC-report marketing restrictions have affected studios' ability to promote R-rated films to young audiences. Earlier this summer, Touchstone Films released "crazy/beautiful" as a PG-13 film, even though the teen drama had originally been filmed as an R-rated movie. If "Hardball" had kept an R rating, Paramount would be unable to advertise the film on many key youth-oriented TV outlets, including MTV shows like "Total Request Live." Having a PG-13 gives the studio a broader marketing reach. As it turns out, Robbins got a PG-13 by simply cutting out 20-plus uses of a certain curse word, which according to Motion Picture Assn. of America rules, is only allowed to appear once in a PG-13 film, and only in a nonsexual context. The other language used by the kids, which includes words not suitable for The Times to print, were allowed to stay in the film, as was the violent scene. Robbins said Paramount had a research screening of the new version of the film, and it earned significantly better test scores than at previous screenings. "I have to admit it works better now," he says. Robbins says he wouldn't have re-cut the movie if he felt it changed the tone or veracity of the story. "I feel OK about the new version. It's still basically the same movie, and now maybe more people will have a chance to see it. My only problem was about the process. We discussed the ratings issue before we made the film, and I just wish this could have been decided back then, instead of at the last minute." Paramount executives say they didn't force Robbins to make any changes. So why did the studio wait so long to have Robbins re-cut the movie? "As the movie came together and we did more work on the marketing, we kept asking ourselves, 'Who's the real audience for the movie?"' explains Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Friedman. "We thought the movie had such positive values that it was the kind of film we wanted to encourage parents to take their teenagers to see."
From:Sonic.net (Detail is here) Lil' Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri Play HardballLil' Wayne, Big Tymers, Da Brat also appear on soundtrack to upcoming Keanu Reeves flick. Young stars Lil' Bow Wow, Lil' Wayne, Lil' Zane and Sammie play a lil' "Hardball" on a new song, the lead single from the Jermaine Dupri-produced soundtrack to the movie of the same name. The four shot a video for the tune in Los Angeles earlier this month. The clip will include footage from the movie, in which a chronic gambler played by Keanu Reeves pays off a debt by becoming a little league baseball coach in a Chicago housing project. The film comes out September 14. The "Hardball" soundtrack also features new material or remixes from Jagged Edge, Big Tymers and new neo-soul singer Fundisha, as well as previously-released music from Notorious B.I.G. and R. Kelly. The soundtrack is set for a September 11 release. Hardball track list, according to Sony Music:
Author:Susan Whitall / The Detroit News From:http://detnews.com/2000/entertainment/0010/26/d01-139345.htm DETROIT -- Maybe it's that heavy blanket of fall leaves over the city, but Keanu Reeves and a film crew managed to slip into the city a week ago without much notice. The star of Matrix has been filming scenes for his latest movie, Hardball, at Tiger Stadium and at Cobo Center and Cobo Arena. Marilyn Wheaton, cultural affairs director for the city of Detroit, said the film crew called her a month ago, wondering if Detroit had an empty major-league baseball stadium. "I said that we had!" Wheaton said. A scouting crew came here from Chicago, where the movie is set, to look at Tiger Stadium, and while they were here another postmodernist Detroit gem caught their eye. "The scout crew also took photos of Cobo Arena and Cobo Hall, took them back to Chicago, and for some reason the producer loved Cobo Arena and Cobo Hall," Wheaton said. "So I heard they were using both." Hardball is the story of a young man (Reeves) who tries to borrow money from a friend for his gambling habit. The friend makes the loan on the condition that Reeves' character coaches a Little League baseball team from Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing projects. In the scenes filmed at Tiger Stadium, Reeves takes his Cabrini-Green Little League team to see a major-league game. The movie is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects, by Daniel Coyle, and is slated for release in 2001. Calls to the city's cultural affairs office from producers interested in Detroit have picked up lately, according to Wheaton, although she can't always help them, as she did Reeves.
Author:CARLOS SADOVI From:http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001027/en/keanu_reeves_1.html From:http://accesshollywood.nbci.com/LMOID/resource/0,566,-3738,00.html From:http://www.canoe.ca/JamMovies/oct27_reeves-ap.html From:http://live.altavista.com/scripts/editorial.dll?ei=2290175&ern=y DETROIT (AP) - Keanu Reeves is expected in the Motor City this week to film scenes for his new movie, ``Hardball.'' The locale - Tiger Stadium, the old home of the Detroit Tigers. The movie is based on the Daniel Coyle book ``Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' about volunteers coaching Little League baseball amid the violence of Chicago's Cabrini-Green public housing complex. Reeves plays a coach. In the scenes to be filmed in Detroit, Reeves' character brings his team to see a major league baseball game. ``Nationally, filmmakers are beginning to think of Detroit as a viable place to film,'' said Marilyn Wheaton, cultural affairs director for the city. ``That makes us proud. That means people are beginning to see Detroit as a very nice place.'' In August, actor Billy Crystal chose the retired Detroit ballpark to stand in for Yankee Stadium for his film ''61.''
Author:CARLOS SADOVI From:Chicago Sun Times (http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fire12.html) Gloria Nicholas beamed with happiness the day her son, his wife and their three children moved in with her two months ago, because she finally had her family under one roof in her Broadview home. But early Wednesday, a fire roared through that home, killing Nicholas, 69, her daughter-in-law, Toni, 29, and her grandchildren Gabrielle, 3, and Brandon, 4 months. Toni's husband, Michael Nicholas, 31, escaped out of a second-floor window of the Georgian-style brick home, clutching 6-year-old son Michael Jr. The two were the only survivors. The father was in critical condition suffering from smoke inhalation at Loyola University Medical Center. His son was in good condition. Nicholas, a longtime widow and retired postal worker, wanted her son Michael and his family in her home so she could help care for her beloved grandchildren, her oldest son, Jerome Watson, said. "You could see the joy in her face when they moved in," Watson said as he fought back tears. Nicholas had five children and 11 grandchildren. "She loved her children and grandchildren. She would do anything to help them." Fire officials believe the fire was started by a space heater at the first floor rear of the home, on the 2000 block of South 24th Ave. Watson, who lives only blocks from his mother's home, said the last time he saw her was Monday evening, when he brought her medicine for a cold. The space heater may have been on because of her illness, he said. Broadview firefighters were called to the fire at 3:30 a.m., said Capt. Brian Clish. The home lacked smoke detectors. "It was fully engulfed across the whole first floor," Clish said. "Smoke detectors probably would have made a difference here." Thea Camara, who lives next door, was roused from her sleep by Michael Nicholas' screams for help. When she peered out of her home, she saw the orange flames rushing from the windows. A porch awning that Nicholas landed on when he jumped from the second floor was still on Camara's front lawn later Wednesday. "He was out in his underwear yelling, `My family's in there. Somebody help,' " Camara said. She and other neighbors recalled a kind woman and perfect neighbor. Camara said Nicholas would ask about Camara's 17-month-old son. She would always share baked items with her neighbors and was known for her sweet potato pie. "Whatever a neighbor means, she was it," said Camara, who lived next door for five years. Nicholas was a lifelong member of the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church and sang in the West Side church's Sanctuary Choir for over 20 years, Music Director Mattie Robertson said. "Everybody loved Gloria. She was so full of life," Robertson said. "She had a beautiful, little, voice." Robertson spoke with Nicholas about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to tell her that the choir, which sings classical music for the church, was to be featured in the Keanu Reeves movie "Hardball," which is being filmed in Chicago. The choir, including Nicholas, was scheduled to be filmed Friday singing during a funeral scene in the movie, Robertson said. "She was so happy about being able to be in the film," said Robertson. "I'm extremely devastated."
Author:Michael Sneed From:Chicago Sun-Times The Reeves report . . . Actor Keanu Reeves, who is playing a ticket scalper in the flick "Hardball," was shooting scenes in Bridgeport last night at a little tavern renamed "Kelly's" . . . just for the shoot. * Reeves was at Alex Dana's Carmine's eatery Friday night with a bevy of beauties . . . and took a rarely used elevator instead of the stairs after an evening of nightcaps. "I thought it was funny Mr. Matrix had to take the elevator," Dana quipped.
Author:CARLOS SADOVI From:Chicago Sun Times Inc. hears actor Keanu Reeves came across as a very credible ticket scalper at Comiskey Park over the weekend--even to the point of being hassled by park security guards. It seems Reeves, in town researching a role as a ticket broker for the movie "Hardball," donned a baseball cap and went to work during the White Sox's big three-game series with Oakland. Though some fans recognized Reeves, several assumed he was just a run-of-the-mill scalper. Sox security got involved, at one point escorting him from the ballpark before realizing who he was and asking for autographs. Reeves must have gotten quite an education. We hear many Sox fans turned their backs on Reeves when he wanted more than face value for box seats. Inc. thinks Reeves should head over to Wrigley Field when the Cubbies host the Reds this weekend and learn about the outrageous prices Cub fans are willing to pay for bleacher seats.
From:http://www.nydailynews.com/ ( http://www.nydailynews.com/2000-08-25/News_and_Views/) Keanu Reeves may get beaned by a lawsuit now that a Chicago Little League coach is accusing Paramount Pictures of stealing his life story. Robert Muzikowski, 37, is threatening legal action against the studio over what he claims is an invasion of privacy by Paramount and its upcoming movie "Hardball." In the drama, which just started shooting in Chicago, Reeves stars as a boozy slacker who lives by gambling and scalping tickets. His life turns around when a buddy gives him a loan on condition that he coach a ghetto team. The script is based on Daniel Coyle's nonfiction book "Hardball: A Season in the Projects," which describes Muzikowski's transformation through the power of Little League. It also details his friendship with Chicago youth organizer, Al Carter. Muzikowski and Carter, who say they never released the rights to their stories, met last week with Mayor Richard Daley to argue that the script for "Hardball" offers a racist caricature of African-Americans. "The kids are being portrayed as juvenile delinquents who constantly curse," says the pair's lawyer, Thomas Harvey. "They're actually decent kids who behave themselves." Harvey, whose clients include Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, has put Paramount on notice that there are more than a dozen parallels between the "Hardball" script and his clients' lives. In one scene, says Harvey, the screenplay even refers to the Carter-based character as "Al." Paramount said yesterday that "Hardball" is "a dramatic work of fiction ... inspired by real events." Studio lawyers have warned Muzikowsky to stay away "from visiting any location on which the picture is being filmed." Harvey is startled by "the impudence of suggesting that Mr. Muzikowski should refrain from coaching his Little Leauge team in a public park."
NEW YORK -- Keanu Reeves is excited to be coming back to Chicago to make "Hardball," but he understandably was _not_ too thrilled to take the Concorde from Paris to New York for Saturday interviews for "The Replacements," which opens Aug.11. "I think everybody getting on that plane was a little edgy," said Reeves, referring to last week's Concorde plane crash. "Who wouldn't be?" In "The Replacements," Reeves plays Shane Falco, the quarterback who leads a group of misfit replacement players on the fictional Washington Sentinels, after the regular NFL players go on strike. The story about underdogs getting a second chance was loosely inspired by the real pro-football strike of 1987. Among other things, Reeves loved his character's name. "Shane Falco. That name is just so, _movie_. Where else but in movies do you meet guys named Shane Falco?" Right. It's almost as good a name as, uh, well, "Keanu Reeves." *Reeves, who previously worked in Chicago filming 1996's "Chain Reaction," describes his "Hardball" character Conor O'Neill as a "scalper addicted to gambling who makes the big bet and loses.... He's spiraling down and in order to cover a bet he has to coach this inner-city baseball team of 11-year-olds.... I hope we can have the kids talk the way they really talk.... let them swear. It will be an R-rated picture. It's a film about both the kids and Conor saving each other."
Author:Michael Fleming From:dailynews.yahoo.com (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000407/re/film_reeves_1.html) NEW YORK (Variety) - Keanu Reeves has committed to star for Paramount Pictures in ``Hardball,'' a drama about an inner-city Little League baseball team to be directed by Brian Robbins (''Ready to Rumble''). Reeves will play a baseball coach in the film. Based on the Daniel Coyle book ``Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' the story is being adapted by screenwriter John Gatins, who co-wrote the Robbins-directed ``Varsity Blues.'' Robbins' partner, Mike Tollin, will produce the film under their Tollin/Robbins banner. In the film, Reeves will play an aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking while his friends are settling down and making money at good jobs. When he tries for the umpteenth time to borrow money from a friend, the pal makes the loan conditional on the guy coaching a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing projects in Chicago, a squad that his brokerage house is sponsoring. The man is transformed by mentoring the kids and finds salvation through the experience. It's a project Robbins has been trying to mount since setting up ``Varsity Blues,'' and one that has been a hot property since Gatins turned in a recent draft. Reeves has just begun filming a remake of the 1968 film ''Sweet November'' for Warner Bros., directed by Pat O'Connor. The actor wanted to follow this project with another film before embarking on back-to-back ``Matrix'' sequels in late fall or winter. He had committed to star as a furniture salesman with a secret porn-star past in the Andrew Bergman-directed comedy ''Ottoman Empire,'' but he exited that film when Columbia balked at making another pricey sex comedy after the flaccid grosses of the Mike Nichols-directed ``What Planet Are You From?'' (Daily Variety, March 7). Reeves had been courted by Paramount for ``Hardball'' since then, but things got serious this week, and a deal was closed Wednesday evening for that ``Ottoman'' slot. Reeves, who next will be seen in August starring in the Warner Bros. football comedy ``The Replacements,'' just wrapped a role in the Sam Raimi-directed ensemble drama ``The Gift'' alongside Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank and Greg Kinnear. Date:2000/Apr/07 14:07 Author:Michael Fleming From:From:dailynews.yahoo.com (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000407/en/film-reeves_1.html) NEW YORK (Variety) - Keanu Reeves has committed to star for Paramount Pictures in ``Hardball,'' a drama about an inner-city Little League baseball team to be directed by Brian Robbins (''Ready to Rumble''). Reeves will play a baseball coach in the film. Based on the Daniel Coyle book ``Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' the story is being adapted by screenwriter John Gatins, who co-wrote the Robbins-directed ``Varsity Blues.'' Robbins' partner, Mike Tollin, will produce the film under their Tollin/Robbins banner. In the film, Reeves will play an aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking while his friends are settling down and making money at good jobs. When he tries for the umpteenth time to borrow money from a friend, the pal makes the loan conditional on the guy coaching a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing projects in Chicago, a squad that his brokerage house is sponsoring. The man is transformed by mentoring the kids and finds salvation through the experience. It's a project Robbins has been trying to mount since setting up ``Varsity Blues,'' and one that has been a hot property since Gatins turned in a recent draft. Reeves has just begun filming a remake of the 1968 film ``Sweet November'' for Warner Bros., directed by Pat O'Connor. The actor wanted to follow this project with another film before embarking on back-to-back ``Matrix'' sequels in late fall or winter. He had committed to star as a furniture salesman with a secret porn-star past in the Andrew Bergman-directed comedy ``Ottoman Empire,'' but he exited that film when Columbia balked at making another pricey sex comedy after the flaccid grosses of the Mike Nichols-directed ``What Planet Are You From?'' (Daily Variety, March 7). Reeves had been courted by Paramount for ``Hardball'' since then, but things got serious this week, and a deal was closed Wednesday evening for that ``Ottoman'' slot. Reeves, who next will be seen in August starring in the Warner Bros. football comedy ``The Replacements,'' just wrapped a role in the Sam Raimi-directed ensemble drama ``The Gift'' alongside Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank and Greg Kinnear.
Author:Rebecca Ascher-Walsh From:http://www.ew.com/" (http://www.ew.com/ew/daily/0,2514,2844,keanureevesmaysqueeze.html) Play 'Ball' Keanu Reeves may squeeze in another project before the ''Matrix'' sequels. Plus, one passed-over director for ''Harry Potter'' laments Looks like the busiest actor on the planet, Keanu Reeves, is about to take on another project. Now that Columbia has put Andrew Bergman's political satire ''The Ottoman Empire'' into turnaround, Reeves is circling ''Hardball: A Season in the Projects,'' a drama for director Brian Robbins. Based on Daniel Coyle's nonfiction book about his experience coaching baseball in Chicago's inner city, ''Hardball'' has been in development since 1994, and was going to be Robbins' follow-up to ''Varsity Blues'' until casting issues fouled things up. Robbins, who went on to direct ''Ready to Rumble,'' hopes to return to ''Hardball'' this summer, catching Reeves, who just wrapped Sam Raimi's ''The Gift,'' after he completes the romantic drama ''Sweet November'' and before he begins filming ''The Matrix 2'' and ''3'' back-to-back in Australia. Established since 1st September 2001 by 999 SQUARES. |
