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Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal Singing in Damn Yankees

by Alex Billington
February 27, 2009

Jake Gyllenhaal and Jim Carrey Singing in Damn Yankees

Haven't we had enough remake news this week already?! New Line Cinema has greenlit a remake of Damn Yankees, the sports-themed musical that first hit Broadway in 1955 and movie theaters later in 1958. Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaal are both set to star in this contemporary version, with Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, the writers behind A League of Their Own and City Slickers, currently working the script, as well as Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the duo behind Hairspray, both producing. With an impressive line-up like that, I don't think we have anything to complain about, even if it is yet another remake.

The original Damn Yankees was a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s, where a happily married middle-aged man decides to make a "Faustian bargain" with the devil in order to help out his team, the New York Yankees. He's transformed into slugger Joe Hardy, in exchange for his soul. He can break the deal, but the team makes it all the way to the World Series. Jim Carrey will play the devil, while Jake Gyllenhaal will play the soulless lead, and it's the first time both will be doing a musical. As for a director and the lead female, producers are waiting for a script before they meet with anyone else.

I'm sorry if this bothers a few of you, but I really love good musicals, including the aforementioned Hairspray from 2007, and this just sounds amazing. It's already got a stellar cast and I'm sure they'll find a great director for it in the end. I'm already getting excited thinking about how awesome it will be seeing Jim Carrey play the devil in a musical comedy about baseball. Does it really get any better than that?

Explore tags: Casting, Movie News, Opinions

http://www.youtube.com/snears Nick Sears

This doesn't even come close to the rediculous remakes recently posted. Having Jim and Jake lead is a great idea. I can see a lot of people, young and old, turning out for this. Bring it on!
Voice of Reason

Fuck you, Hugh Jackman, THE MUSICAL IS NOT BACK! I WONT BELIEVE OR SUPPORT IT!!!
xerxerxex

cool.
tkob

They should have gotten Cheyenne Jackson who just did the City Center's Encore Revival, he is AMAZING!
CatieLee

Actually he's a fan of the Washington Senators and the Yankees are keeping his team from winning the series. It'll be hard to beat Ray Walston as the devil. And it's the vehicle that made Gwen Verdon as star. Whoever they pick has gotta be damn good.
SmartGuy

Sounds great, those two seem like they would do well together in a film like this.
Bryanmakeup

I love musicals too. Or should I say good ones, cause there are not many things worse than a bad one. I'm so glad someone like Hugh Jackman has come around to show that it doesn't make you gay or a girl to enjoy them. Trust me Im as big of a comic and sci-fi fan as they come and I do.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Sounds good and since the film is over 50 years old, I think it warrants a remake. I am sick of the "It's been 20 years, time for it to be remade" shit.
Connie

I'm so excited! I love musicals, I love Damn Yankees in particular, and I love Carrey and Gyllenhaal. Btw, though - he doesn't sell his soul to help the Yankees, he sells his soul to help his team (the Washington Senators) BEAT the Yankees.
kelseigh_rox925

I can't wait to see this version of the show! My high school just did this musical, but the guy who played Applegate in our show could give Jim Carrey a run for his money! Thank you to the people who corrected the person that wrote the article! They'll have to find a really decent person to play Lola, and she'll need to be very pretty.
DR DTX

---Seen it already! -Hey! --it's 2010! -our glutted and debauched comfort-zone is now the debtor-junky of the most awesomely genocidal regime in human hhistory---across the Pacific. Hollywood is on all fours for those financial lines -and mass market accesses. They have been for well over a decade. -That talented -rich and established people like Carrey waste their time and ours with slop like this ----is a DISGRACE... AMEN
Tony

He makes the bargain with the devil because he HATES the Yankees and will sell his soul to defeat them. Since 2004, with the biggest choke in the history of organized sports, the Yanks have been a bit less intimidating