New Delhi, July 3 -- The creative partnership between Tom Hanks and director Marielle Heller that produced one of the most quietly devastating portrayals of Fred Rogers is coming back to the screen, this time aimed at the American baseball diamond. Sony Pictures announced Wednesday that The Comebacker, written and directed by Heller and starring Hanks, will open in theaters on July 30, 2027, a midsummer slot that positions the studio's second major Heller-Hanks collaboration as a summer theatrical event rather than a fall awards push.

Toy Story 5, in which he voices Woody, crossed $200 million domestically in six days, the fastest Pixar has reached that mark, and his physical presence in theaters has been largely absent from the summer c...