Field of Dreams is not a movie that should work. It's very schmaltzy and oftentimes nonsensical. The plot essentially boils down to Kevin Costner building a baseball field in his backyard and traveling the country on a whim because a mystical voice told him to. The details of the voice's requests are often unclear, filled in by dreams we don't see. Costner's character simply voices these mysterious impulses that have come to him from a force beyond human understanding.
But damn, it works. So incredibly well. Rarely are American blockbusters allowed to be so earnest, especially nowadays. There's no irony to be found. At several points, a character utters some variation of "this is so crazy," or "I can't believe I'm doing this," but it never undercuts the sincerity of the film's intent. This is a movie that's not ashamed to be a little silly, a little ridiculous and, most of all, extremely emotional and cathartic in a way that would probably be too emotionally distant and therapized in a 2026 context.
Still, let's try to reimagine Field of Dreams for the modern era. Why not? This is, of course, in honor of MLB's third Field of Dreams game, which will take place on Aug. 13 in Dyersville, Iowa, at 7:30 p.m. ET on Netflix. The Phillies will play the Twins.
Who plays Ray Kinsella?
Original actor: Kevin Costner
Recast actor: Andrew Scott
Andrew Scott is 15 years older than Kevin Costner was when the original Field of Dreams was filmed, but everybody's playing younger nowadays and Scott has proven to be one of the most charismatic and malleable performers out there. He's probably best known as the Hot Priest in Fleabag Season 2 (he's also on Sherlock, a TV show I have not watched), but he's incredible in recent film releases, such as Wake Up Dead Man, All of Us Strangers and Blue Moon.
Scott is Irish and would thus need to inflect a middle American accent of some kind, but that's fine. He plays a sleazy, past-his-prime American author who has fallen down a right-wing rabbit hole in Wake Up Dead Man and it works completely. He can turn on the charm when called upon, and play to the big internal emotionality that a film like Field of Dreams requires.
Also considered: Steven Yeun, Austin Butler, Glenn Powell
Who plays Annie Kinsella?
Original actor: Amy Madigan
Recast actor: Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Seyfried is wonderful in just about everything, and has been for multiple decades now. Her roles in Mean Girls, in the coming-of-age pantheon, and in Momma Mia, a moms movie classic, are iconic. She is another performer with uncommon range. If it were up to me, she'd own a gold trophy for her performance in The Testament of Ann Lee last year as the titular religious icon. She can wade into deep turmoil (see: First Reformed) or campy melodrama (still haven't seen last year's The Housemaid, but case in point).
Seyfried has hugely expressive eyes and a chameleonic persona, able to really sit deep in her characters and imbue them with a lived-in quality. This is partially just wish-casting to get Andrew Scott and Amanda Seyfried in a bunch of scenes together, toggling between domestic drama and moments of breezier comedy. But that is exactly what I am here to do. Amy Madigan does so much with relatively little in the original, and Seyfried can hit the same notes while hopefully taking on meatier portions.
Also considered: Paula Beer (please go watch her in any film directed by Christian Petzold)
Who plays Terence Mann?
Original actor: James Earl Jones
Recast actor: Laurence Fishburne
James Earl Jones has one of the most iconic voices in all of cinema — a god-tier character actor who, in the original, dances effortlessly between frazzled skepticism and deep sincerity and understanding. It's hard to find his equal in the current cinematic landscape, but Laurence Fishburne has checked many similar boxes. He has Morpheus to Jones' Darth Vader, known for his iconic blockbuster performances that are sometimes infused with menace (see: John Wick). But Fishburne is more than capable of chewing scenes in a more dramatic setting, or playing lighter comedic notes, which he does plenty in both The Matrix and John Wick.
You can draw a rough line from the character of Terence Mann, a beacon of wisdom and life experience that slowly emerges from beneath a rough exterior, and Fishburne's performance in Boyz n the Hood. Like Jones, audiences have a long history with Fishburne on screen. There's a (good, helpful) baggage there, which can add texture to his character beyond any one single performance.
Who plays 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson?
Original actor: Ray Liotta
Recast actor: Austin Butler
Or the equivalent? If we are "remaking this for the modern age," you're probably sliding the timeline forward. Ray's father grew up idolizing the 1919 Chicago White Sox, who were scandalized when Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven teammates were accused of accepting bribes to throw the World Series. That memory that drives the emotional catharsis of the film. If Andrew Scott plays an Iowa farmer in 2026, his father probably grew up watching baseball in the 60s.
The Black Sox scandal has no obvious parallels in 60s or 70s baseball history. Pete Rose's gambling scandal came in the late 80s, as player-manager and manager, but we are not making Field of Dreams a Pete Rose movie.
It would be hard to do this source material justice by making this about Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and the steroids era. The Astros' cheating scandal is more recent, but all those guys kept playing without any major consequences beyond reputational harm.
So let's just slot Austin Butler in as [former ballplayer from an unspecificed time period] and figure out the rest during the script-writing phase. Field of Dreams takes plenty of historical liberties (Terence Mann is not a real writer, obviously). The Black Sox are not the reason this film works. It works because of how baseball itself has become so ingrained in American culture. It's about how so many people grew up watching, playing and yes, dreaming of professional baseball.
You don't need a gambling scandal or some other legal foibles to make a film about how baseball can connect a family and a country. So with that, just know we are putting Austin Butler in here somewhere. Credit to by fellow FanSider Chris Landers, who initially pitched Butler for the Kevin Costner part (inspired) but is absolutely correct in that his face "scream[s] '20s ballplayer hopped up on greenies." I think Butler's face card would play in just about any era.
We are really dialing up the charisma, not unlike Ray Liotta, who carries so many scenes in the original with his facial expressions and body language alone.
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