Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal will show their pinstripes for New Line’s adaptation of Damn Yankees.
Both actors are attached to star in a contemporary transfer of the classic musical with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel on script duty. The musical is being produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo behind New Line’s Hairspray.
Damn Yankees centers on Joe Boyd, a happily married man who makes a deal with the devil to help save his favorite ball team.
In exchange for his soul, he’s transformed into slugger Joe Hardy. He can break the deal but as fate and the devil would have it, the deadline falls during the World Series.
Carrey would play the devil, and Gyllenhaal would play Boyd.
Five years ago, reports Variety, another proposed version of Damn Yankees struck out at Miramax.
Lola, engaged by the devil to tempt Joe, won’t be cast until the script is turned in. Meetings with directors will also wait.
The original was directed by George Abbott and choreographed by Bob Fosse, with music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, and book by Abbott and Douglass Wallop.
Damn Yankees was also turned into a 1958 Warner Bros. film that was directed by Abbott and Stanley Donen, with Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon re-creating their stage performances. Tab Hunter played the slugger.
