BATTER UP : Yes, Sports Fans, It’s ‘Truth or Dare’ in the Bullpen

If Columbia Pictures has its way, Madonna will play Debra Winger’s younger sister in Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own,” the story of an all-women’s baseball team set in the 1940s. And if talks with Tom Hanks continue to go well, he’ll reunite with Marshall--with whom he collaborated on “Big”--to play the team’s coach.

The film, which is currently estimated to fall in the $30-million range and scheduled to start shooting in July, was originally at 20th Century Fox with Marshall--who developed the material and is one of the producers--scheduled to direct. When Joe Roth came aboard as studio chief, however, he asked her to step aside.

“That was my fatal error,” says Roth. “Penny was working on ‘Awakenings’ at the time and, in my haste to get some movies going, I took the project away. I loved the material, but I soon lost confidence in David Anspaugh (“Hoosiers”), who I’d brought on to direct. Also, the casting wasn’t coming out as expected. We’d lined up Jim Belushi for the role of the coach, but weren’t attracting the caliber of actress I had hoped.”

Roth put the project in turnaround--freeing another studio to pick it up and reimburse Fox later for its investment. When Marshall moved to Columbia last November, she took the project with her.

Whether Madonna and Columbia can come to terms is a matter of speculation. “The studio is offering $1,” quips one person privy to the negotiations. “She’s asking $1 billion.” Some believe that Columbia--in recent years one of the more profligate studios--is bound to come around. “When has Columbia not paid people what they wanted?,” wonders one top executive. “Debra Winger, Tom Hanks, Madonna . . . of course they’ll pay.”

Not so quick, responds a Columbia insider. “The studio has spent a lot getting this package together, hiring writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who did ‘City Slickers,’ ‘Parenthood’ and ‘Splash.’ Debra Winger and Penny Marshall certainly don’t come cheap. Columbia may have a bad reputation inherited from the Jon Peters School of Free-Spending, but there’s been considerable belt-tightening under Frank (Price).”

Anyhow, adds the executive, when it comes to Madonna’s acting ability, the jury is still out. “There’s still some dispute about whether she’s a ‘movie star,’ ” he says. “The feeling is that, surrounded by the right people, she’s fine. The big question is whether she can take on a big role and carry it off on her own.”