If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in recent years, it’s that Tom Hanks apparently really likes being the captain of vehicles. He’d been a captain once or twice before (that was the rank of his “Saving Private Ryan” character, for instance), but within the space of just a few years, he first played “Captain Phillips,” and just this weekend starred as the stricken airline pilot of the title in Clint Eastwood’s pleasantly surprising “Sully” (read our review)
READ MORE: The 10 Best Tom Hanks Performances Ever
Barely a moment after the latter has taken off (hitting a flight of geese, presumably), and Hanks has already been lining up his next mode of transport, with Deadline reporting that the actor has signed on to star in “Greyhound,” in which he would play the commander, not of a bus, but of a Navy destroyer in WW2 who “fights his self doubts and personal demons to prove he belongs.”
Intriguingly, this seems to be a very personal project for Hanks, because he actually wrote the screenplay. He won’t direct, “Larry Crowne” perhaps too fresh in the mind: instead, Aaron Schneider, who won acclaim a few years back for “Get Low,” will take the job instead. The budget is apparently in the $30 million range, and FilmNation will be financing. Right now, Hanks’ slate is clear, and with “Sully” predicted to open to about the same amount of money this would cost, we imagine this will come together swiftly. While you’re waiting, why not have a read of our feature on the actor’s best performances?
