Peacock’s TV show adaptation of 1989’s Field of Dreams won’t be making it to home plate, as The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the streamer has recently canceled the project.
The show was given a straight-to-series order last August. But clearly, something has gone awry since as Peacock won’t be moving forward with the project. Little was known about the TV show aside from the fact it would be based on the classic 80s movie.
The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a baseball field in his cornfield in order to attract the ghosts of deceased baseball legends. These legends include Shoeless Joe Jackson and his teammates on the infamous Chicago Black Sox team, who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series in exchange for money.
Mike Schur, the creator of NBC’s The Good Place and co-creator of Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, was set to write the series. Lawrence Gordon (who produced the original film), David Miner and Morgan Sackett were also attached to the project as executive producers.
The original movie was a critical and commercial hit and was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture. More than just a sports movie, Field of Dreams has left a lasting pop culture impression with its iconic line “if you build it, they will come” entering the modern vernacular. It was even selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2017 as it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Considering the wave of 80s nostalgia that has propelled shows such as Stranger Things to smash hit status, it’s not hard to see why Peacock greenlit this project in the first place. Why it has now decided to cancel the show remains a mystery, however, its creative team isn’t giving up hope just yet and The Hollywood Reporter notes that it is being shopped around in an effort to find a new home.
Launched in 2020, Peacock has struggled to find its feet when it comes to original TV shows. However, we still rank it as one of the best streaming services currently available, primarily because of its excellent free tier and its often overlooked selection of movies which include recent releases such as the fantasy epic The Northman and crowd-pleasers like Everything Everywhere All at Once.
