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They should remake “The Fan”

It debuted 22 years ago Thursday. Why don’t we celebrate the release of the definitive San Francisco Giants movie?

‘The Intern’ - UK Film Premiere - Red Carpet Arrivals Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

In 1996, Tony Scott directed Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes in a baseball fan (De Niro) stalks baseball superstar film called The Fan. It was the end of De Niro’s run as an obsessive stalker character (Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Cape Fear preceded this) and it was at the height of Wesley Snipes’ A-list mega-star career. It’s also the last major studio film to feature the San Francisco Giants (although Billy Crystal’s 2012 Parental Guidance did feature the Giants as part of the B-story). The movie was released on August 16, 1996. Here’s the trailer:

And here’s a supercut of all the times Robert De Niro says “Bobby!” in the film:

I was inspired by Andrew McCutchen’s post earlier today because it referenced Flashdance:

For reference:

Flashdance was produced by Don Simpson, who also produced Top Gun, which was directed by Tony Scott.

If they did remake “The Fan”, you could easily make it about a sabermetric-minded dude (or woman!) stalking a baseball player because he refuses to adjust his swing or take a walk. In any case, the Giants need to pop up in the zeitgeist. 1996 was not a great year for the franchise, but my goodness, do their colors look great on film.