Actor Tom Hanks has a history with historical adaptations of the Second World War, and how his film Greyhound, which wound up at Apple TV as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, is getting a sequel on the streaming service.
The news was reported earlier today by Deadline Hollywood. The article notes that Hanks and his partner at Playtone Productions, Gary Goetzman, signed a multi-year exclusivity deal with Apple TV Plus, and will be making series, documentaries and unscripted projects for the company to develop, produce and distribute. The most immediate project in this deal, Masters of the Air, will feature an ensemble of young actors including Elvis’s Austin Butler, and will follow the American bombardiers who led tense, often-deadly air raids into Germany during the Second World War.
Greyhound was one of Apple TV Plus’s most-successful projects when it launched July 2020 as we reported at the time, 30 percent of its viewers were new to the service. In the story, Hanks portrays a U.S. Navy commander who leads a multi-national escort group to defend a merchant convoy under attack by German submarines in 1942. The piece was well-received by critics, and currently has a 78 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 233 reviews. The critical consensus is that it is fast-paced, though the action sequences are a bit more robust than its character work. Hanks will be seen next in Elvis as Colonel Tom Parker, and Otto in A Man Called Otto later this calendar year.