There’s a documentary on baseball legend Yogi Berra coming to theaters this May. On Tuesday, Sony Pictures Classics put out a trailer for It Ain’t Over, which will premiere in selected New York and Los Angeles theaters on May 12, then expand its footprint:
It Ain’t Over made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022, and is now headed to wider audiences. It is directed by Sean Mullin and produced by Natalie Metzger, Matt Miller, Peter Sobiloff, and Mike Sobiloff. It’s executive produced by Lindsay Berra, Yogi Berra’s granddaughter and someone who’s also spent two decades working in sports media with ESPN, MLB.com, Box Magazine and more. Here’s more on it from a release:
IT AIN’T OVER is an intimate portrait of Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, one of baseball’s greatest superstars. As the brilliant catcher for the most storied franchise in Major League Baseball history, he amassed 10 World Series rings, three American League MVP awards, and a staggering 18 All-Star Game appearances. A native of St. Louis who saw combat in World War II, he resumed his baseball career during the golden era in New York when three teams battled for supremacy, going on to catch the only perfect game in World Series history in 1956.
Yet for many observers of the national pastime, his prolific accomplishments on the ballfield were overshadowed by his extraordinarily appealing personality. Long before athletes endorsing products became commonplace, Yogi was starring in TV commercials and connecting with fans from every demographic. His unforgettable “Yogi-isms”, initially perceived as head-scratching philosophical nuggets, became fashionable catch phrases that made him a national treasure and endearing figure on the American pop culture landscape.
IT AIN’T OVER is a compelling, entertaining, and thrilling biography that takes a deeper dive, revealing a loving husband and father, D-Day veteran, Hall of Fame ballplayer, beloved teammate, coach, manager, product endorser, and originator (mostly) of his own brand of proverbs that are now ingrained into everyday life.
Woven into the documentary are interviews with a lineup of men and women whose paths intersected with Yogi and produced unforgettable memories. Yankee legends Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Joe Girardi, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Tony Kubek, and Bobby Richardson share first-person accounts, along with friends and family, including Billy Crystal, Bob Costas, Vin Scully, Suzyn Waldman, Lindsay Berra (Yogi’s granddaughter), and sons Tim, Larry, and Dale.
Berra was certainly a fascinating player and personality. And that’s an impressive lineup of interviewees, and it may be particularly interesting to see what media figures like Costas, Scully, and Waldman had to say about him. It’s also interesting to see that this plans to go well beyond just what Berra did on the field. We’ll see how it turns out when it’s released in May.
[Sony Pictures Classics on YouTube]
