The Church of Baseball
The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit
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4.4 • 67 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
LA TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award-winning screenwriter and director of cult classic Bull Durham, the extremely entertaining behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film, and an insightful primer on the art and business of moviemaking.
"This book tells you how to make a movie—the whole nine innings of it—out of nothing but sheer will.” —Tony Gilroy, writer/director of Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy
"The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball."—Annie in Bull Durham
Bull Durham, the breakthrough 1988 film about a minor league baseball team, is widely revered as the best sports movie of all time. But back in 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director and no one was willing to finance a movie about baseball—especially a story set in the minors. The jury was still out on Kevin Costner’s leading-man potential, while Susan Sarandon was already a has-been. There were doubts. But something miraculous happened, and The Church of Baseball attempts to capture why.
From organizing a baseball camp for the actors and rewriting key scenes while on set, to dealing with a short production schedule and overcoming the challenge of filming the sport, Shelton brings to life the making of this beloved American movie. Shelton explains the rarely revealed ins and outs of moviemaking, from a film’s inception and financing, screenwriting, casting, the nuts and bolts of directing, the postproduction process, and even through its release. But this is also a book about baseball and its singular romance in the world of sports. Shelton spent six years in the minor leagues before making this film, and his experiences resonate throughout this book.
Full of wry humor and insight, The Church of Baseball tells the remarkable story behind an iconic film.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this spectacular debut, screenwriter and director Shelton reflects on the deeply personal passion that brought his canonical sports film, 1988's Bull Durham, to life. Rather than fall into the trappings of a tell-all about "lies, clashing egos, and bloodshed"—which he regards as routine in the making of any film—Shelton produces a work that's humanizing and intimate. He chronicles the movie's indelible impact: on the residents of Durham, N.C., who, even after 30 years, still credit the film for revitalizing the city; on its memorable cast—Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins—who were at that point three Hollywood newcomers Shelton tirelessly advocated for despite "deflating pushback" from Columbia Pictures; and, most of all, on his own career in filmmaking, which he recounts in vivid detail. In addition to his fascinating analyses of the script's genesis—including play-by-plays of character development that went into every baseball sequence ("Nuke begins pitching better because he's not thinking about pitching; he's thinking about Annie")—readers will revel in Shelton's own accounts of playing baseball professionally in the minor leagues in the 1960s. As he writes, it was the "fragile and absurd... wondrous and thrilling" world he discovered there that ignited his dreams to write the film. The result is an immensely moving look into the mind behind the masterpiece.
Customer Reviews
Great Read!
Awesome Read if you love the movie.
Great read!!
Bull Durham has always been a favorite and I loved reading the background to the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves baseball and the movie.
Church of Baseball
Great to know the background of this super enjoyable movie. A requirement should be to watch it at least once every summer.