We could spend many hours discussing all of Tom Hanks' greatest roles. The man has had an impressive acting career for over four decades. However, one of his most memorable movies continues to be the Steven Spielberg-helmed Saving Private Ryan, where he played company commander leading his men on a mission to bring one soldier home. Hanks hasn't appeared in a war drama since delivering that award-nominated performance, but it looks like he may be jumping back into the Second World War with a project he wrote called Greyhound.
According to Deadline, Tom Hanks is also aiming to star in Greyhound, which will be directed by Get Low's Aaron Schneider. However, instead of leading another land lubber story, Hanks would play a career military officer who is given command of a Navy destroyer, and as the tale progresses, he'll have to fight his self doubt and inner demons to prove that he belongs on the ship. So this would be another return to the sea for him, following behind 2013's Captain Phillips. Between that, the recently-released Sully, Cast Away and a number of other projects, evidently people love to see Hanks traveling. Greyhound isn't a done deal quite yet, but FilmNation is in talks to fund it, with the budget reportedly in the "mid-30 million range."
World War II has been revisited so often in cinema that it's becoming harder to tread new ground tell stories set in the conflict. Fortunately, with Tom Hanks' Greyhound, we can't help but have our curiosity piqued. In Saving Private Ryan, the actor played a confident officer who bravely led his men across France after the invasion of Normandy to find just one man. Rather than play another cool and collected protagonist, Greyhound would have Hanks playing an office more unsure of himself, but has to suck it up while he leads his own men into battle. Narratively, it sounds captivating.
Considering his Hollywood stardom, we're pretty sure Hanks will work something out with Aaron Schneider so he can play the lead protagonist rather than choose someone else. There also haven't been nearly as many WWII movies based around the Navy, so setting Greyhound aboard a ship helps distinguish it from the crowd. Hanks' previous writing experience includes penning an episode of the HBO series Band of Brothers and 2011's Larry Crowne, which he also starred in. Granted, the latter project earned mixed reviews, but with Schneider's help and some looks from other talent involved, Greyhound will ideally be another win for Hanks' resume.
We'll keep you updated on how Greyhound is progressing as more relevant news comes in. For now, you can catch Tom Hanks in Sully playing the eponymous protagonist, pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, in theaters now. He can also be seen next month reprising Robert Langdon in Inferno.
