The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by Sheldon Turner. An updated remake of the 1974 film, it stars Adam Sandler as a washed-up former professional American football quarterback who goes to prison and is forced to assemble a team to play against the guards. The film co-stars Chris Rock, James Cromwell, the rapper-musician Nelly, William Fichtner, David Patrick Kelly, Tracy Morgan, and Cloris Leachman, as well as Burt Reynolds (who played Sandler's role in the original). The Longest Yard was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and Canada, and Sony Pictures Releasing (under the Columbia Pictures label) elsewhere on May 27, 2005.