Aaaand cut! Alex Rodriguez may be on the Yankees for now until this whole mess gets figured out, but according to an upcoming Yankee film – he’s out. It doesn’t even matter that it’s going to cost a lot of money & time. Ouch. Report after the jump…
Via NYPost:
The Yankees can’t sever Alex Rodriguez’s contract, but his role as the team’s hero in an animated film is heading for the cutting room floor.
Rodriguez, who did his own voice work while appearing in the upcoming animated film “Henry & Me,” will be removed from the film’s final version due to fears from investors that the Yankees third baseman, who is currently appealing a 211-game suspension for his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, will hurt the marketability and profitability of the picture.
Though the producers and Yankees ownership gave their full support to the film — and in Hank Steinbrenner’s case, voiced the role of his father — and can offer their opinions about whether Rodriguez should be included in the final version, the ultimate decision falls upon a group of eight or nine investors, who despite being fans of Rodriguez, believe that the controversy surrounding him will detract from the family-oriented film centered around perseverance and belief.
“We have investors that we have to answer to, just like the Yankees,” said executive producer Ray Negron, a longtime Yankees adviser, whose children’s books served as the inspiration for the film. “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.”
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Though Rodriguez only has a few lines in the approximately one hour film, he is featured in 49 sequences. Producer Joseph Avallone said the editing process to remove Rodriguez will take four to six months and “cost a fortune.”
(Story Continues…)
