It’s been nearly 20 years since a sequel to 1989’s Major League was made. Charlie Sheen would like to change that.

Sheen, who played wild-throwing reliever Ricky Vaughn in Major League and 1994’s Major League II, recently told TMZ that he’s been focused on making another Major League sequel and has the old cast on board for it. He just needs to find someone willing to finance the film. (Sheen is apparently ignoring 1998’s Major League: Back to the Minors, acting like it doesn’t exist. That’s probably a smart decision.)

Whatever a “Major League 3” would be titled, Sheen says the script has already been written by David S. Ward, who wrote and directed the first two films. The story would be a “passing the torch” sort of narrative for Vaughn’s character, as he explained to The Hollywood Reporter last fall.

“You find the Vaughn character selling cars and his arm is so shot that if you buy a car from him, he’ll play catch with your kid in the parking lot. And then there is an ex who shows up, who he had a tryst with a couple decades ago, and she has a twentysomething kid, who is now in the Cleveland organization, throwing about 102 mph. So, the story pretty much focuses on that. The kid does not like me. We do not like each other. It bookends our story, but it also passes the torch.” 

Does anyone want to see a sequel to Major League 20 years later? Hollywood has had no problem going back to older films and TV shows for revivals and reboots. Major League is arguably a brand name that could attract some interest, especially if the marketing was done well — maybe even with an outlet like MLB Network or ESPN. But the rights to the Major League films are currently held by Morgan Creek Productions, and according to Sheen, the company has no interest in making a new film.

“I would love to do it with Morgan Creek, who owns the rights, but if they don’t want to do it, then I am sure there is a way that they could be involved and everybody wins,” he says. “The script that we’ve all been sitting on is pure gold and absolutely shootable. It’s David Ward at his best. I mean, this is the guy who won the Oscar for writing The Sting. We could be in preproduction tomorrow.”

If Morgan Creek is wondering about the viability of a theatrical release, maybe a streaming outlet like Netflix or Amazon could be another possibility. Nostalgia has played well on Netflix, and maybe there would be even more of an audience for a sequel through streaming, where people are likely watching the first one or two films these days.

If Sheen is to be believed and the old cast is ready to reunite (minus James Gammon, who played manager Lou Brown, and passed away in 2010), that could be fun to watch. Dennis Haysbert as Pedro Cerrano and Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes again might be worth seeing, provided a story that would reunite that Cleveland Indians team is any good. Sheen says it’s “pure gold”!

Besides, when is the last time we had a decent baseball movie? 42, four years ago? Moneyball, six years ago? We’re about due for one, although there’s no guarantee that a Major League 3 could fill that void. Sheen certainly think it’s worth a try, however. Why not see if he’s right?

[Slashfilm]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

2 thoughts on “Charlie Sheen wants to make a new sequel to Major League

  1. This is nothing new. He’s been telling the same story since before he had his meltdown. No one else involved seems to acknowledge any of this.

  2. Perhaps the reason that Charlie Sheen can’t get anyone to back this Major League sequel is because he’s basically a repulsive human being (remember his abusive behavior towards women?). Not to mention his past history of drug abuse which makes him a major insurance liability for any studio.

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