From one acclaimed book to another, it looks like Tom Hanks and Tom Tykwer aren’t done tackling well-received pieces of literature, though hopefully this time Hanks will leave his various grab bag of accents at home.
Deadline reports that the “Cloud Atlas” star and director are going to be reteaming on an adaptation of Dave Eggers‘ National Book Award finalist “A Hologram For The King.” And no, there won’t be any new age messages here. Hopefully. Instead, it’s a very Hanks-ian tale of one man trying to put together his life….in a foreign land, naturally. Here’s the Amazon synopsis, brief as it is:
In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman named Alan Clay pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter’s college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together.
Financing and a studio home for the project are still coming together, but it has a script from Tykwer and all those pieces will likely get sorted out. And while “Cloud Atlas” was something of an underperformer, we’re guessing this is going to cost less and be more in the Hanks Everyman wheelhouse audiences are familiar with. No word yet on when lensing might get underway.
