Someone blow the whistle, because Ben Affleck's upcoming sports drama, THE WAY BACK, has been instructed by the refs at Warner Bros. to get back behind the line. Originally slated for an October 18 premiere in cinemas, it's been announced that the upcoming film from director Gavin O' Connor (THE ACCOUNTANT, MIRACLE) will move to a March 6, 2020 release.
Written by Brad Ingelsby and O’Connor, THE WAY BACK stars Affleck as a former basketball all-star, who after struggling with addiction, attempts to comeback by becoming the coach of a disparate high school basketball team at his alma mater. Affleck, O’Connor, Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray, Ravi D. Mehta, and Jennifer Todd are producing, with Jason Cloth and Aaron L. Gilbert serving as executive producers.
Despite the film testing well with its adult-demo audience, Warner Bros. has decided to make a smart play by not pitting THE WAY BACK against films like Disney's MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL and Sony's ZOMBIELAND 2: DOUBLE TAP, which are both scheduled for an October 18 debut. Moreover, the March release date also has THE WAY BACK playing ball in theaters during March Madness, which as you know is when basketball is all the rage.
Even with its new date, THE WAY BACK will still have some stiff competition with Pixar's ONWARD and Paramount's MONSTER PROBLEMS also landing in theaters. Be that as it may, all three films are wildly different from one another, which has THE WAY BACK looking good for adult audiences and sports fans alike.