‘Greyhound’ deserves to be seen on the big screen: Tom Hanks

Hollywood veteran Tom Hanks says he is heartbroken that his film Greyhound, which he has also produced and adapted for screen from C S Forester’s novel The Good Shepherd, will not release in theatres.

It was announced last month that the World War II drama will debut on Apple TV Plus on July 10, after Sony Pictures locked a worldwide rights deal with the streaming platform, due to the uncertainty over the theatre closures amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Hanks, who has previously written films like That Thing You Do! and Larry Crowne, said Greyhound is special as he spent almost a decade working on the screenplay which he believes deserves to be seen on the big screen.

“My ego has run rampant… and it’s all over the picture!” he said about penning the movie.

But change in release plans of the Aaron Schneider-directed film is “an absolute heartbreak”.

“I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality,” Hanks told The Guardian.

Set in the early days of World War II, the story follows an international convoy of 37 Allied ships, led by Captain Ernest Krause (Hanks), as it crosses North Atlantic while being hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi Uis -boats.

The 63-year-old actor said after playing captain in Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Captain Phillips and Sully he has realised the importance of making the characters look “palpable” and not a “museum piece”.

“I’ve played a lot of captains. Capt Jim Lovell, Capt Richard Phillips, Capt Sully Sullenberger, Capt Miller. But I try to bring to any of these roles, and specifically to Ernie Krause, the question anyone could ask, including you, Hadley: ‘What would I do if I was in his shoes?’

"Then it ends up being something more palpable than a museum piece of what it was like to be on this ship in the north Atlantic,” Hanks said.

Greyhound is part of the ever-growing list of films, which were originally slated for a theatrical release, but opted for a digital debut after the coronavirus pandemic resulted in most movie theatres remaining closed across the globe.

Scoob, Trolls World Tour, The King of Staten Island, The Lovebirds, Artemis Fowl, My Spy and Bad Trip have previously had a digital premier