NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Since contracting COVID-19 in March, Tom Hanks has been, by most measures, busy. He and his wife, Rita Wilson, flew home after recuperating in Australia, where he had been shooting Baz Luhrmann鈥檚 Elvis Presley film. He hosted a from-home episode of 鈥淪aturday Night Live,鈥� an already distant enough memory that it takes a beat for him to remember it. And he saw his new World War II naval drama 鈥淕reyhound鈥� steered from theatrical release by Sony Pictures to Apple TV+ 鈥� the streaming service鈥檚 biggest movie yet.
But he鈥檚 mostly been taking it day by day.
鈥淭here鈥檚 sort of an ongoing physiological maintenance for your brain and for your body that we鈥檝e been following through,鈥� Hanks says, speaking by video conference from his home in California. 鈥淲hat can you do but try to bind up the hay in neat little bundles. That鈥檚 what we鈥檝e been doing. Just going into the barn with the baling machine, saying, 鈥榃ell, we got all this hay. Let鈥檚 at least stack it up and get it ready for the next day.鈥�
For many, Hanks鈥� contraction of COVID-19 was the first loud alarm bell that went off in the early days of the pandemic. If 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Dad鈥� could get it, so could anyone. The decision to go public with their diagnoses, Hanks said in a recent interview, was twofold. He didn鈥檛 want any rumors about why the production was shut down. And if he was going to serve as an overdue public service announcement, so be it.
鈥淲hy hide from the facts?鈥� he says. 鈥淭hese were the facts.鈥�
The ordeal, one experienced with varying severity and symptoms between Hanks and Wilson, gave him a perspective on differing national responses to the coronavirus. The comparison with Australia, Hanks grants, isn鈥檛 a favorable one for the United States. But he says, there鈥檚 no need for 鈥渁nother dump truck to unload all the things that have gone wrong鈥� in the U.S.
鈥淗ere we are. And let鈥檚 just all do our part, eh?鈥� says Hanks. 鈥淐an we not all just wear a mask and social distance and wash our hands? It sounds pretty simple to me, and if you have a problem with that, I certainly wouldn鈥檛 trust you with a driver鈥檚 license. Chances are you鈥檒l drive as fast as you want to, never use your turn signal and aim for pedestrians.鈥�
Before the pandemic, 鈥淕reyhound鈥� was going to hit theaters in early June, smack in between 鈥淲onder Woman 1984鈥� and 鈥淭op Gun 2.鈥� “We were going to fight like the scrappy runt of a litter in order to get somebody to pay attention to us,鈥� says Hanks, chuckling.
Now, 鈥淕reyhound鈥� will head straight into homes as a marquee event with little competition of similar scale or star power. A Tom Hanks-led, special effects-laden WWII movie is a weight class above most straight-to-streaming options in this strange summer movie season. Disney+ has 鈥淗amilton,鈥� but Apple TV+ has Hanks.
The film, made for about $40 million and acquired by Apple for a reported $70 million, is a taut 88-minute naval drama about a lesser-seen theater of WWII, the Battle of the Atlantic. Hanks鈥� character is a humble captain for the first time shepherding a convoy of boats across the Atlantic, guarding them from attacking German U-boats while traversing the 鈥渂lack pit鈥� 鈥� the middle ocean territory bereft of air support. All heavy waves, faint sonar blips and evasive maneuvers, the film takes on almost mythical qualities.
鈥淲hen everything went kablooey, we began to imagine: 鈥榃ell, we have this movie about the stasis of characters in the middle of something of which they have no idea how long it鈥檚 going to last,鈥�” says Hanks. “We didn鈥檛 expect a worldwide pandemic to mirror the theme and the action of the movie.鈥�
鈥淭his is just about yesterday, today and tomorrow,鈥� Hanks says. 鈥淭hose three days are pretty much all humanity has.鈥�
鈥淕reyhound鈥� has long been a pet project for the 63-year-old actor. He wrote the script, adapted from C. S. Forester鈥檚 1955 novel 鈥淭he Good Shepherd,鈥� a book first given to him by his late friend and 鈥淪leepless in Seattle鈥� director Nora Ephron.
鈥淚t just stuck with him,鈥� says Gary Goetzman, Hanks鈥� producing partner and co-founder of their company, Playtone. 鈥淎s happens with him, he鈥檒l ruminate about a certain idea, it goes in his blender, and one day he just put a script on my desk and very much wanted to make it.鈥�
Hanks had approached others to write it and met with other filmmakers. But they tended to envision a grander version of the film.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業 love you so much but that鈥檚 not the point of what we鈥檙e trying to do,鈥欌�� Hanks says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to condense this. We鈥檙e trying to get as much coffee in the can.鈥�
Instead, he found a director in Aaron Schneider, a veteran cinematographer who last helmed 2010鈥檚 鈥淕et Low,鈥� with Robert Duvall.
鈥淭om always called it 鈥榯he perfect little 90-minute movie,鈥欌�� Schneider says. 鈥淔rom the beginning, his point of entry was about maintaining this almost hyper-subjective point of view in terms of this captain鈥檚 experience. You would throw the audience into his world, sticking to over his shoulder.鈥�
Hanks, of course, has been in similar worlds before. He鈥檚 been a captain four times previously: 鈥淪aving Private Ryan,鈥� 鈥淎pollo 13,鈥� 鈥淪ully鈥� and 鈥� his last time manning the bridge 鈥� 鈥淐aptain Phillips.鈥� A voracious reader of history, he鈥檚 returned frequently to WWII. With Seven Spielberg, Hanks is currently developing for Apple a third miniseries, following 鈥淭he Band of Brothers鈥� and 鈥淭he Pacific.”
For Hanks, whose father served in the Navy, his attachment to the era goes deeper than DNA. It’s about connecting to the wartime mentality of survival and sacrifice.
鈥淚鈥檓 asked by every journalist, 鈥榃hy do you keep going back to World War II?鈥欌�� says Hanks, donning a vaguely European accent. 鈥淭he answer is because I come back to that position of the stress upon a human being鈥檚 psyche. It doesn鈥檛 have to be a captain, necessarily, on board a destroyer in the middle of the North Atlantic. It can be on an 8-year-old kid or a 24-year-old woman or even a 54-year-old man back in the United States wondering, 鈥楢re we going to live or die? Are we going to be free or not? How long is it going to go on?鈥� To me, that鈥檚 the human condition in every circumstance, even in today in 2020.鈥�
The film had just weeks of post-production remaining when Hollywood shut down. During that time, a modern-day Navy captain, Capt. Brett Cozier, was removed from command on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt after pleading for permission to take crew members ashore during a COVID-19 outbreak on the ship. In Cozier, who like Hanks later tested positive for the virus, Hanks saw the kind of character he鈥檚 often drawn to playing.
鈥淚 thought,” said Hanks, 鈥渢hat guy鈥檚 kind of badass.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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