If you have seen the “Field of Dreams”, you likely have a strong opinion on it. Either way you look at it, the Oscar-nominated movie – which made its debut on May 5, 1989 – is still being talked about 30 years after its release. Here are some interesting facts about it:

1. The “Field of Dreams” was based on a book called “Shoeless Joe”

The “Field of Dreams” writer-director Phil Alden Robinson had loved W.P. Kinsella’s “Shoeless Joe” since the book was first published in 1982. Despite 20^th Century Fox’s repeated insistence through the years that the story wasn’t commercial enough to be adapted into a movie, Robinson continued working on a script for it. Eventually, Robinson and producers Lawrence and Charles Gordon sold the screenplay to Universal.

2. “Shoeless Joe” evolved from a short story

Before “Shoeless Joe”, there was “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa,” a 20-page short story that W.P. Kinsella penned for an anthology. When Larry Kessenich – an editor at Houghton Mifflin – read the synopsis, he contacted Kinsella and convinced him to turn the premise into a full-length novel.

3. It took W. P. Kinsella just 9 months to write the book

While the “Shoeless Joe” may have been Kinsella’s first novel, he finished it rather quickly. With Kessenich’s help, this new extended version of the story was completed in nine months.

4. Phil Alden Robinson was upset that the studio wouldn’t let him use the title “Shoeless Joe”

When “Field of Dreams” was first shown to test audiences, it was using the title “Shoeless Joe”. Audiences said it reminded them of a hobo. With trepidation, Robinson called Kinsella to tell him that the movie’s name was being changed to the “Field of Dreams”. Kinsella was ok with it, as one of his own ideas for his book’s title was “The Dream Field”.

5. A few characters from “Shoeless Joe” were omitted from the “Field of Dreams” script

In the “Shoeless Joe” novel, we’re a few more interesting characters but there wasn’t enough screen time for them. One of such characters was Richard Kinsella, Ray’s identical twin brother.

6. Creation of the new characters for the movie

W. P. Kinsella’s real original title for his book was “The Kidnapping of J. D. Salinger”. Studio executives, however, were afraid that bad publicity from such threats, so the character of Terence Mann was created instead.

7. An outfield fence was considered, but never built

Here’s another difference between Kinsella’s novel and its Hollywood adaptation. “In the book, there’s a fence with a door in it that separates the ball field from the corn field, and we had done drawings of walls and fences,” – Robinson explained. “I asked, ‘Why would he build a fence?’ and then the corn became the wall.”

8. Kevin Costner wasn’t initially considered for the “Field of Dreams”

Kevin Costner was the first actor to come to Robinson’s mind to play Ray, but he had just starred in the “Bull Durham”, another baseball movie. A Universal executive got Costner to read the script anyway, and he decided to do it because he felt it would be akin to “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

9. W. P. Kinsella and his wife almost appeared in the “Field of Dreams”

“My wife and I were part of the audience at one of the scenes,” – Kinsella later said, – “We were trapped there for a full day of sweltering retakes, and we never appeared in the final cut.”

10. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were extras in the “Field of Dreams”

Damon was 17 years old and Affleck turned 16 during the summer of 1988. More than a decade later Affleck would star in Robinson’s “The Sum of All Fears”; on the first day of shooting, he reportedly told Robinson: “Nice working with you again.”

11. The person who voiced “the Voice” that spoke to Ray in the “Field of Dreams” remains a mystery

For years it was rumored that the voiced belonged to Ray Liotta, who played Shoeless Joe Jackson. Kinsella wrote that he was told it was actually Ed Harris, Amy Madigan’s husband (Madigan played Ray’s wife, Annie).

“What’s funny is that a few people who thought they knew have revealed it and gotten it wrong,” Robinson said in June 2019. ” We’ll let that remain a secret. It’s a great mystery, and I like that.” The Voice is officially credited as being played by Himself.

12. A deleted scene from the “Field of Dreams”

Before Ray starts obeying the mysterious voice that’s speaking to him, he tries to find a logical explanation for it. “I … had a scene in which he goes to an ear doctor to have his hearing checked,” – Robinson told. Ultimately, this footage wound up on the cutting room floor.