In response to the COVID-19 pandemic causing cinemas across the globe to close, Warner Bros. made the film available to own digitally on March 24, 2020.

Introduced to assistant coach and algebra teacher Dan and the team members, Jack learns that the school hasn't been in the playoffs since he was a student.

Affected by the birthday party and memories of his son, Jack protests a call at a game, which results in him being ejected.

As a result, Jack turned down a full athletic scholarship to the basketball program at the University of Kansas, and hasn't played since.

One night, while driving drunk with a woman he met at a bar, Jack rear-ends a boat hitched to a parked car.

On June 11, 2018, it was announced that director Gavin O'Connor and actor Ben Affleck were going to re-team on a Warner Bros. drama film, titled The Has-Been, scripted by Brad Ingelsby about a former basketball star who has lost his wife and family foundation because of an addiction, and he attempts to regain his soul by becoming the coach of a high school basketball team at his alma mater.

[14] Another film distributed by the studio, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, was also released earlier than expected for the same reason.

[1][2] In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Onward and the wide expansion of Emma, and was projected to gross $7–10 million from 2,718 theaters in its opening weekend.

[1] The film fell 70% in its second weekend to $2.4 million, finishing seventh, largely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The website's critics consensus reads: "The Way Back's occasionally frustrating treatment of a formulaic story is often outweighed by Ben Affleck's outstanding work in the central role.

"[19] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[1] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Affleck gives the impression of intimate familiarity with the anguish and self-disgust that dominate Jack's life; this character and project clearly meant something important to him, as the title bluntly suggests, and he gives it his all without overdoing the melodrama.

"[21] Owen Gleiberman of Variety said that "Ben Affleck is compelling in a drama of addiction and redemption that plays off his own tabloid odyssey.