Tom Hanks WWII project ‘Greyhound’ repositions for 2020 arrival

Tom Hanks at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Jan. 27, 2019. Image: AFP/Frederic J. Brown via AFP Relaxnews

War drama “Greyhound” has taken a big step back from its planned March 2019 release and is now expected May 2020.

Tom Hanks’ maritime biopic “Greyhound” will be going up against comedy comeback “Legally Blonde 3” in May 2020 instead of the Jordan Peele thriller “Us” in March 2019.

The movie revolves around a fictional episode set during World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic and, specifically, a naval commander named Ernest Krause (not to be confused with an 1890s United States Navy officer of the same name).

It is based on the 1955 C. S. Forester novel “The Good Shepherd” (again, not to be confused with the Matt Damon and Robert De Niro historical thriller of the same name), Forester being the British novelist who created Napoleonic-era navy officer Horatio Hornblower.

Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner with “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump”, also known for “Saving Private Ryan”, “Cast Away” and “Captain Phillips” is not only the star but also one of the film’s producers and, on this occasion, adapted the Forester novel into the “Greyhound” movie’s screenplay.

Among the film’s cast are Elisabeth Shue (“CSI” seasons 12 to 15, “Leaving Las Vegas”), Stephen Graham (“Boardwalk Empire”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” 4 and 5), Tom Brittney (“UnREAL”), Rob Morgan (“Stranger Things” and “Daredevil” season 1, “This is Us”) and Manuel Garcia-Fulfio (“Sicario”, “Widows”).

Releasing it on March 22, 2019, as planned, would have put the Sony Pictures film into the box office wake of Marvel Cinematic Universe prequel “Captain Marvel”, released a fortnight earlier.

This new date of May 8, 2020, places “Greyhound” in even closer proximity to the MCU, with an as yet untitled MCU film due just one week before. “Legally Blonde 3” has been announced for the same day while animated comedy “Scooby” and sci-fi horror “A Quiet Place 2” are due seven days afterwards. JB

RELATED STORIES:

HBO turns Trump election victory into miniseries, Tom Hanks produces

Tom Hanks boards English-language adaptation of ‘A Man Called Ove’