biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
sports drama
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...
film directed by
Jeff Celentano
Jeff Celentano (born May 24, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director. Celentano starred as an actor in such films as '' The Player'', '' American Ninja 2: The Confrontation'', ''Puppet Master II'', and ''Demonic Toys'' ...
and written by
Angelo Pizzo
Angelo Pizzo () is an American screenwriter and film producer, usually working on films based on a true story, and usually about athletics. He is best known for '' Hoosiers'' and ''Rudy.''
Biography
Early life and education
Pizzo grew up i ...
and
Scott Marshall Smith
Scott Marshall Smith (died December 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter.
References
2020 deaths
American male screenwriters
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
20th-century American screenwriters
21st-century American screenwriters
20th-cent ...
. It stars
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
,
Colin Ford
Colin Ford (born September 12, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Wheeler in '' Daybreak'', Joe McAlister in '' Under the Dome'', the voice of Jake on ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'', Mikey on '' Can You Teach My A ...
,
Joelle Carter
Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''.
Early life
Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,Randy Houser
Shawn Randolph Houser (born December 18, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2008, he charted the single "Anything Goes". It was a top 20 hit on the '' Billboard'' country singles chart a ...
,
Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia Culkin (born ) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera ''Love of Life'' and made her film debut in ''The Gypsy Moths''. Bedelia subsequently appeare ...
and
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26) is an American actor. His roles have included Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in ''Urban Cowboy'' (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), Emmett in '' Silverado'' ...
.
The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on August 18, 2023, by
Briarcliff Entertainment
Tom Ortenberg (born 8 August 1960) is an American businessman.
Early life and career
Ortenberg was born to a Jewish family on 8 August 1960, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated in 1982. While th ...
.
Premise
The film is based on the true story of Rickey Hill overcoming a physical handicap in order to become a
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) player.
Cast
*
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
as James Hill
*
Colin Ford
Colin Ford (born September 12, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Wheeler in '' Daybreak'', Joe McAlister in '' Under the Dome'', the voice of Jake on ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'', Mikey on '' Can You Teach My A ...
as Rickey Hill
* Jesse Berry as young Rickey Hill
*
Joelle Carter
Joelle Marie Carter (born October 10, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Ava Crowder in the FX series '' Justified''.
Early life
Carter was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Her father, Jimmy,
*
Randy Houser
Shawn Randolph Houser (born December 18, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Universal South Records in 2008, he charted the single "Anything Goes". It was a top 20 hit on the '' Billboard'' country singles chart a ...
as Ray Clemons, a man from Rickey's childhood who encourages him to try out for the MLB
*
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26) is an American actor. His roles have included Pfc Glenn Kelly in ''Nashville'' (1975), Wes Hightower in ''Urban Cowboy'' (1980), astronaut Alan Shepard in '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), Emmett in '' Silverado'' ...
as
Red Murff
John Robert Murff (April 1, 1921 – November 28, 2008) was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from through for the Milwaukee Braves. Listed at , 195 lb., Murff batted and threw right-handed. He attended Gettysburg Colleg ...
, the MLB scout who discovers Rickey
*
Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia Culkin (born ) is an American actress. After beginning her career in theatre in the 1960s, Bedelia starred in the CBS daytime soap opera ''Love of Life'' and made her film debut in ''The Gypsy Moths''. Bedelia subsequently appeare ...
Production
In August 2021, ''
Deadline
Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to:
* Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished
Arts, entertainment, and media Comics
* Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain
* ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...
'' reported that
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...
joined the cast of the sports drama film ''The Hill'', with
Jeff Celentano
Jeff Celentano (born May 24, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director. Celentano starred as an actor in such films as '' The Player'', '' American Ninja 2: The Confrontation'', ''Puppet Master II'', and ''Demonic Toys'' ...
directing from a script by
Angelo Pizzo
Angelo Pizzo () is an American screenwriter and film producer, usually working on films based on a true story, and usually about athletics. He is best known for '' Hoosiers'' and ''Rudy.''
Biography
Early life and education
Pizzo grew up i ...
and
Scott Marshall Smith
Scott Marshall Smith (died December 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter.
References
2020 deaths
American male screenwriters
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
20th-century American screenwriters
21st-century American screenwriters
20th-cent ...
. Quaid plays Pastor James Hill while
Colin Ford
Colin Ford (born September 12, 1996) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Wheeler in '' Daybreak'', Joe McAlister in '' Under the Dome'', the voice of Jake on ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'', Mikey on '' Can You Teach My A ...
plays his son Rickey Hill. This was Smith's final film before his death in December 2020.
Celentano said, "I'm setting out to make an iconic film in the classic sense, a beautiful sweeping and powerful inspirational story. One that will stand the test of time like '' Blindside'', ''
Rudy
Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
*Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...
'', ''
Field of Dreams
''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel '' Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...
'' and ''
The Natural
''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mos ...
''. Dennis was the first and only person I thought of for the lead role upon reading the script."
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
and the surrounding Columbia County region from November to December 2021. Other locations included the
Lake Olmstead Stadium
Lake Olmstead Stadium is a baseball park in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It was built between the 1994 and 1995 seasons to replace Heaton Stadium on the same site and can hold 4,822 people. The stadium also serves as an outdoor-arena style ev ...
and
Central Savannah River Area
The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is a Media market, trading and marketing region in the U.S. states of Georgia (U.S. State), Georgia and South Carolina, spanning fourteen counties in Georgia and seven in South Carolina. The term was coined ...
.
Release
''The Hill'' is scheduled to have a wide theatrical release on August 18, 2023, by
Briarcliff Entertainment
Tom Ortenberg (born 8 August 1960) is an American businessman.
Early life and career
Ortenberg was born to a Jewish family on 8 August 1960, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He attended Pennsylvania State University and graduated in 1982. While th ...