Chris Pratt Almost Starred in Peacock's Series Remake of FIELD OF DREAMS
A couple of years ago, Peacock was looking to produce a series remake of the classic 1989 Kevin Costner baseball movie Field of Dreams, what we didn’t know is that Chris Pratt was actually set to star in it. That was never reported.
This report comes from Puck's Lesley Goldberg, in a feature for Puck titled "The Best and Worst Deals of the Peak TV Era," and it’s explained that Pratt "abruptly" dropped out of the project.”
The series was being developed by Mike Schur, who previously worked on shows such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, and Parks and Recreation. He wanted to shoot parts of the show at Fenway Park.
Lisa Katz, president of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said at the time: “Through the years, Field of Dreams has remained a fan favorite, maintaining its rightful position in the zeitgeist.
“It’s whimsical and grounded, a space where Mike Schur excels, and we’re looking forward to bringing a new version of this classic to Peacock.”
The series was all ready to start shooting in Iowa during the summer of 2022, and it was going to “reimagine the mixture of family, baseball, Iowa and magic that makes the movie so enduring and beloved.”
Then all of a sudden the series was no longer moving forward and Universal Television going to shop the project to other networks and streaming services, but nothing ever came of that.
According to the new report, Pratt wasn’t the only reason why the project fell apart as Schur also left the series at some point. Someone named Bill Heck was tapped to replace him on show, but he was an industry newcomer and was "deemed insufficient" to carry the show's $15 million per-episode budget.
There’s no information shared on why Pratt ultimately dropped out of the project, but I think he would’ve been great in the role of Ray Kinsella! I might have actually enjoyed him in the role, and this could’ve been a decent series. But, the movie is such a classic, it’s one of my all-time favorites, and I’m ok with the series not happening.
The movie told the story of a farmer, Ray Kinsella, who hears a voice encouraging him to build a baseball diamond in his family's cornfield which attracts the spirits of dead baseball players, but the purpose of the field is bigger than just watching old baseball players return to the game.