Alex Rodriguez is being cut out of an animated movie about the New York Yankees called “Henry & Me” because of his ties to steroids, even though the adjustment will cost the filmmakers a lot of time and money, the New York Post reports.
Rodriguez voiced his own lines in the film and is featured in 49 sequences, per the New York Post. They estimate that cutting him out of the movie could take 3-6 months.
The movie’s investors don’t want any ties to the third baseman in the film because of fears that his name could hurt the movie’s marketability and profitability.
“We have investors that we have to answer to, just like the Yankees,” executive producer Ray Negron told The Post. “If ownership decides that this is a direction that we have to go, meaning our investors, we have to listen to ownership. That’s just the way it is. It works just like a team. It’s the same thing.”
Rodriguez actually had a hero’s role in the film; he hit a home run and visited a cancer-stricken boy in the hospital. Given the 211-game suspension he is now facing, Rodriguez no longer portrays that “good guy” image that would be a necessary fit.
The movie stars Richard Gere, Chazz Palminter, Luis Guzman and Paul Simon, and features Yankees Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Bernie Williams, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira. Originally, Hideki Matsui was going to play the hero, but the filmmakers changed that to A-Rod after Matsui signed with the Los Angeles Angels following the 2009 season. Now they’re going back to Matsui.
The Post says the film was originally set for a 2010 release, but it will now be screened in some theaters in April before going to DVD.
Thanks to LBS tipster David
