We already knew Clint Eastwood was putting together a Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger biopic to follow up his incredibly successful American Sniper, but who would play the American hero remained a mystery. Until now, as it's been revealed Tom Hanks agreed to sit in the pilot seat for the new movie.
Deadline gathered the scoop on the casting development for the Warner Bros. production. This news comes just about two weeks after Eastwood's involvement and, given the director's notorious record to get movies done fast, expect this one getting ready sooner than later. That said, there's no word yet on when production is expected to start.
It may not be too quick, however, for Hanks currently is tied up shooting Inferno, the third film in the Robert Langdon series proceeding The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons with Ron Howard returning to direct. He also is scheduled to star in James Pondsoldt's (The Spectacular Now) The Circle, co-starring Emma Watson, starting this fall, according to Collider.
In the meantime, he'll also be on the promotional run, one assumes, for his upcoming slot of features scheduled for the end of this year, including Steven Spielberg's Bridges of Spies, Tom Tykwer's A Hologram for the King and Meg Ryan's Ithaca. Although the last one is supposedly a cameo, so he may be off the hook there. Oh yeah, and one of these days he has to return to Pixar's headquarters and give his voice for Woody again too for Toy Story 4.
Eastwood's new movie comes from a screenplay by Todd Komarnicki and is adapted from Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow's book Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters. Personally, my pick for the role would have been Eastwood himself. But Hanks has more than promptly asserted himself as a compelling real-life heroic figure before, between his roles in Apollo 13 and Captain Phillips, and should do just fine for the part. There's also a solid chance he'll get awards recognition for the part. Because the Academy sure does love seeing a true-life story unfold on the screen, particularly with Eastwood's raw-raw American affection in tow.
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