If you hurry, you might be able to catch Tom Hanks in theaters right now in James Ponsoldt's The Circle. But don't want long because it won't be around in another week or so. Hanks may be one our most cherished actors but not even he and a star-studded cast surrounding him could lift that one up. Hanks is still pretty dependable, though, and his next role sounds more in line with how viewers want to see him, which is as a character we can trust.
Hanks is attached to star in an adaptation of Paulette Jiles' book, News of the World, which sounds fascinating. Set in 1870, the story centers on Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a war veteran from Texas whose job it is to travel to each town in the south and read news headlines from around the world. While he wants to help spread the word of the 15th Amendmenet's passage, he agrees to accompany a 10-year-old white girl to her aunt and uncle after she was rescued from the Native American tribe that kidnapped her and killed her family four years earlier. Guess what, the two bond on the journey.
While there's no director attached yet, the script will be penned by Luke Davies, who recently earned accolades for his Lion screenplay. That's a pretty good start for a film that appears to have loads of awards potential, and a plot that has echoes of True Grit. [Deadline]
