Tom Hanks in Talks to Play Pilot Sully Sullenberger in Clint Eastwood Film

By: Jun. 19, 2015
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

Clint Eastwood and Warner Brothers are in talks with Tom Hanks to play one of 2009's pilot heros: Sully Sullenberger.

Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger became an instant American hero in 2009 when he engineered a miraculous emergency landing of US Airways FLIGHT 1549 in the Hudson River after a flock of geese hit the plane just after it took off from La Guardia Airport. His courage under fire saved the lives of all 155 people aboard the plane, who famously crowded the wings waiting rescue.

According to Deadline, when Eastwood declared his intention to make the biopic film, many wondered if Eastwood himself would take on the heroic role. However, this time Eastwood will be sitting in the director's chair while LUCKY GUY star Hanks takes on the role. This gives Warner Brothers a great duo to tell the story.

The screenplay is written by Todd Komarnicki and based Sullenberger's book Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters.

Tom Hanks' upcoming big screen projects include A Hologram for the King and The Lost Symbol. He recently starred in Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips, Cloud Atlas, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Toy Story 3. He won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for his roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. Hanks made his Broadway debut in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy.



Videos