Kevin Costner went scorched earth while promoting 1999’s For Love of the Game after director Sam Raimi cut ten seconds from it. This Sam Raimi movie was one of many the filmmaker made in an attempt to move away from the Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ series, including the Western The Quick and the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and the harrowing thriller A Simple Plan.

For Love of the Game was also the third in Kevin Costner’s baseball movie run, casting him as a retiring pitcher who finds himself amid a perfect game while reflecting on his life and career. The movie was the start returning to safe territory, following the huge failure of Costner’s post-apocalyptic Western, The Postman.

Sadly, For Love of the Game was a dud, grossing $42 million (or $102 million, when adjusted for inflation) against a $50 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). Reviews were tepid also, with the film sporting 42% on Rotten Tomatoes. It probably didn’t help the sports drama that Costner went public about his issues with it in the press.

Kevin Costner Was Mad That 10 Seconds Were Cut From For Love Of The Game

For Love of the Game’s trims were the difference between PG-13 and R

Prior to For Love of the Game’s release, Costner gave an interview with Newsweek (via The Los Angeles Times) lambasting Universal for not challenging the film’s MPAA. The MPAA insisted two swear words be cut for the film to receive a PG-13, and Costner felt the studio either should have pushed back harder. Says Costner:

For Universal, this movie has always been about the length and the rating. It’s never been about the content. You feel a studio would want to release the best version of the movie, not the one they think appeals to the biggest common denominator. . . . Universal wasn’t even willing to try [to fight the MPAA]. They said it wouldn’t do any good. The love of the movies, I believe, is waning [in Hollywood].

For Love of the Game’s removed footage involved F-bombs. The first involved a bartender cussing out an annoying sports fan, while the other saw Kelly Preston’s character – the love interest of Costner’s pitcher – telling him, “I just don’t f*** like that” after they sleep together after their first date. In the final cut, the F-bomb is replaced with “screw.”

It’s incredibly rare for a major star to challenge a studio like this before a movie is released, and it resulted in Costner doing little to promote For Love of the Game. Since the studio wanted to keep the draam within a certain budget, Costner waived his usual fee ($20 million) in exchange for profit points and final cut.

However, Costner’s final cut agreement had two clauses: For Love of the Game had to be PG-13 and with a runtime of two hours and ten minutes. In the aftermath of Costner’s studio critique, Universal offered to give Costner his full fee as an olive branch – which he turned down. Raimi had no issue cutting the offending swears though.

I agree with Kevin–I miss the lines too. We got a big laugh with the bartender’s line and it’s really a great moment. But the MPAA wouldn’t allow it under any circumstances if we wanted a PG-13. I understand Kevin’s feelings. It’s a very personal film to Kevin–I even use home movies of him and his dad in the opening credits–and he doesn’t want it tampered with in any way. But I’m very happy with the film.

One person who was NOT happy with Costner’s shenanigans was Universal co-chairman Stacey Snider, who pushed back against his complaints. She stated For Love of the Game was always intended as a more family-friendly, feel-good drama, and Costner had no right to call out the studio the way he did.

Kevin’s not the director and it’s not fair for him to hijack a $50-million ᴀsset. I realize this is very much about principle for Kevin, but principle doesn’t mean that you never compromise. Our feeling is that we have backed the filmmaker and his name is Sam Raimi, not Kevin Costner.

Also snipped from For Love of the Game was a scene with Costner in the shower where viewers saw everything. Reportedly, this was taken out after certain test screen audiences laughed at Costner’s form, but according to a TMZ video, the star himself was fine with its removal.

Would This Cut Scene Have Changed For Love Of The Game?

The Costner baseball drama is fine without the R-rated material

It speaks to how much Costner cares about his work that he was willing to fight in For Love of the Game’s corner – even though it’s not that great a film. In truth, Costner’s removed shower scene and two spicy F-bombs would have jarred with its tone, since it’s just not that type of film.

Had For Love of the Game leaned into the darker side of the sport, it may have worked. As it stands, the removal of the swear words doesn’t affect the film one way or another, and it’s hard to credit Costner for getting so intense about their deletion. Still, it’s what Costner believed was right, and he took a stand.

Source: Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Times, TMZ