It’s hard not to be romantic about baseball in October. Even as America’s signature “national pastime” has taken a backseat to football and basketball in recent years, the end of the marathon regular season and the start of the playoffs still induce a twinge of nostalgic passion in even the most cynical sports fan. With the MLB Wild Card series beginning this week, it’s fitting that Music Box Films has announced a release date for “Eephus,” Carson Lund’s baseball drama that charmed Cannes when it debuted in the 2024 Directors’ Fortnight.
IndieWire can exclusively reveal that “Eephus” will open at Film at Lincoln Center and the IFC Center on March 7, 2025, with a national rollout to follow. That means that New York cinephiles will have a chance to watch the film during Spring Training, and audiences across the country will be able to catch the expansion just as the regular season is beginning.
“Eephus” follows a group of middle-aged Massachusetts men who have spent decades playing in a recreational baseball league together over the course of their final game before their field is torn down to build a school. As the afternoon unfolds, each member of the ensemble has to find his own way of making peace with the inevitability of change.
The film features a rare acting performance from legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman, who lends his voice as a radio announcer during the film’s opening scene.
In addition to writing and directing “Eephus,” Lund also serves as director of photography on “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,” Tyler Taormina’s slice-of-life Christmas drama that also debuted at Cannes. Both projects were produced through Omnes Films, a Los Angeles-based filmmaking collective that describes itself as committed to making “passionate, ambitious works made by friends that favor atmosphere over plot and study the many forms of cultural decay in the 21st century.”
Prior to its theatrical release, “Eephus” will make its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival this week.
