LOGLINE:

At the lowest point in his life and baseball career, BABE RUTH is offered a chance to lead an All-Star baseball Good Will tour of Pre-War 1934 Japan.

The Babe not only experiences and discovers a different culture, but also humility, a new found respect for the game of baseball, and the inspiration not to give up on the game he loves.

A heart warming story about baseball, nationalism, and American & Japanese cultural history, as well as a tale of international intrigue, espionage, attempted murder, and, of course, baseball. BANZAI BABE RUTH is the only detailed account of the doomed attempt to reconcile the United States and Japan through the 1934 All-American baseball tour.

THE NATURAL meets LOST IN TRANSLATION

Pennlyn Productions is proud to announce that actor Daniel Cudmore will play the iconic and larger than life, American baseball legend, Babe Ruth.

Daniel played “Felix” in four TWILIGHT SAGA franchises (NEW MOON, ECLIPSE, and BREAKING DAWN PART 1 & 2), as well as “Colossus” in three X-MEN films (X-MEN 2, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND and X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST).  Daniel is also starring in Universal’s WARCRAFT, based on the popular video game series.

SCRIPT SYNOPSIS:

In November 1934, as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League All-Stars that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, catcher & future secret agent Moe Berg, and iconic manager Connie Mack, barnstormed across the Land of the Rising Sun.

Two-hundreds thousand Japanese fans, many waving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of: “Banzai! Banzai, Babe Ruth!”

The All-Stars stayed for over a month, playing 18 games in 15 different Japanese cities; experiencing much of Japan that was previously hidden from the rest of the Western world.

Politicians on both sides of the Pacific hoped that the amity generated by the 1934 tour – and the two nations’ shared love of the game of baseball – could help heal their growing political differences before tensions spilled over into all out war.

However, the Babe and baseball could not overcome Japan’s growing nationalism as a bloody coup d’état by young army officers and an assassination attempt by the ultranationalist War Gods Society jeopardized the tour’s success – and the All-Stars’ lives.

The Babe’s historic trip not only inspired him to not quit the game he loved, but also helped create the Japanese Professional Baseball League, 80 years ago.