Tom Hanks is attached to star in a remake of A Man Called Ove, the Oscar nominated Hannes-Holm-directed Swedish comedy that became the highest grossing foreign language film released in the U.S. in 2016. The film will be produced by Playtone partners Hanks and Gary Goetzman along with Rita Wilson and Fredrik Wikström Nicastro for Nordic major SF Studios.
Hanks will play the protagonist, a grumpy widower whose overall unhappiness is exacerbated when he is unceremoniously dumped as chairman of the neighborhood association where he lives. Pushed into retirement in his job on top of all else, Ove gives up and resolves to commit suicide. Every attempt is interrupted by some circumstance that leads him to help a needy neighbor. In the process, Ove develops new relationships that lead him on an unusual journey of introspection and caring for others, even if he never gives up on his attempts to end it all. Pic won Best Comedy prize at the European Film Awards in 2016. It is based on Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel.
Hanks next stars in the Steven Spielberg-directed The Post, playing Ben Bradlee to Meryl Streep’s Kay Graham as the Washington Post navigated the leak of the Pentagon Papers. The New York Times was prohibited from continuing its publication of the classified documents that showed Americans were not being told the truth about troop buildup in Vietnam, or the fact that the country was mired in an unwinnable war. The Washington Post took the baton and played a key role in ensuring the Pentagon Papers were made public. Pic was mounted as a DreamWorks and Fox co-production, with the latter releasing January 12 after the picture qualifies for Oscars.
