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Glen Powell to play Baseball legend Lou Gehrig in new Universal film — here’s what we know so far

Richard Linklater and Glen Powell are reuniting for a Lou Gehrig biopic. Here is what you need to know about the film and its cast.

Glen Powell is stepping into one of the most legendary roles of his career. The actor has officially signed on to portray New York Yankees icon Lou Gehrig in a new biographical film at Universal Pictures. He will be reuniting with filmmaker Richard Linklater nearly a decade after they worked together on a similar project. According to Deadline, Linklater is attached to direct the untitled project, while writer Simon Rich has been tapped to pen the screenplay. The movie also marks another collaboration between Powell and Linklater following their 2024 Netflix comedy ‘Hit Man’. Their professional relationship, however, stretches back even further. The pair teamed up on the 2016 coming-of-age baseball comedy ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’.

Meanwhile, the new film is still in the early stages, and Universal has yet to announce a production schedule or release window. Even so, the names attached to the project have already turned plenty of heads. Behind the scenes, the project has assembled a group of producers with ties to both film and sports. Lifelong Yankees supporter Lorne Michaels will produce alongside Erin David through Broadway Video under its first-look agreement with Universal. Powell is also serving as a producer together with Dan Cohen through Barnstorm, while Linklater is reportedly in discussions to join the producing team through Detour Filmproduction. Lou Gehrig remains one of the most respected players in Major League Baseball history. Spending his entire professional career with the New York Yankees, the first baseman became known for remarkable consistency and toughness.

His nickname, “The Iron Horse,” came from an incredible streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, a record that stood for decades and was widely considered untouchable. That mark remained intact until Cal Ripken Jr. finally surpassed it in 1998, ending one of baseball’s most famous records. Across his 17 seasons with the Yankees, Gehrig helped the club capture six World Series championships and played on the legendary 1927 Yankees team. That team is often mentioned among the greatest baseball teams ever assembled. Individually, he reached another career high in 1934 by winning the Triple Crown after batting .363 while collecting 49 home runs and driving in 166 runs. His playing career, however, came to an unexpected end in 1939 when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known simply as ALS. 

The disease eventually became so closely associated with the baseball star that many people still refer to it as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Two years after revealing his diagnosis, Gehrig died in 1941 at just 37 years old. Hollywood has visited Gehrig’s life only once before. The classic 1942 film ‘The Pride of the Yankees’ starred Gary Cooper as the Hall of Fame first baseman. Despite Gehrig’s lasting place in baseball history, no major feature film has revisited his story in the decades since. Exactly which chapter of Gehrig’s life this new project will focus on remains under wraps. Deadline reports that one person expected to play an important role in the story is Babe Dahlgren, the teammate who stepped in to replace Gehrig at first base after his illness forced him away from the game. Casting for that role has not yet been announced.