News of the World is an upcoming American western drama film co-written and directed by Paul Greengrass and based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Paulette Jiles. Tom Hanks will star while also serving as a producer. It is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2020, by Universal Pictures.
In May 2017, Fox 2000 Pictures bought distribution rights to an adaptation of the Paulette Jiles novel with Luke Davies writing the screenplay and Tom Hanks set to star. In February 2019, Paul Greengrass was announced as director. As a result of the Disney/Fox merger, the film was transferred to Universal Pictures. In August, Helena Zengel, Michael Covino, and Fred Hechinger were added to the cast, with Thomas Francis Murphy joining in September. Filming commenced on September 2, 2019, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped. Tom Hanks features in the first image from western drama.
The film is directed by Paul Greengrass, who Hanks collaborated with on 2013's Captain Phillips, while it's based on author Paulette Jiles' novel of the same name. Set in the aftermath of the Civil War, it centers on the unlikely friendship between Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (the Texan newspaper reader portrayed by Hanks) and 10-year-old Johanna Leonberger (Helena Zengel) when he's tasked with returning her to her family.
Greengrass co-wrote the screenplay alongside Lion's Luke Davies, while Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing through their Playtone banner. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski is the man charged with making the movie as visually stunning as possible – his previous credits include The Martian and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Sixth Sense and The Hunger Games' James Newton Howard will provide the music.
Hanks' latest cinematic offering (which was released via streaming on Apple TV+ in the end) was naval film Greyhound, earning two stars in the Digital Spy review. We wrote: "Greyhound isn't bad exactly, it just isn't very moving. It takes something special to make a straightforward movie about World War II that resonates with you long after the credits roll (did we mention Dunkirk?), and unfortunately this isn't one of them."
Paul Greengrass’ has found its child lead in 11-year-old German actress Helena Zengel. Zengel will play the young girl who is escorted by Tom Hanks’ Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd to her aunt and uncle in San Antonio after she’s rescued from the Kiowa Indian tribe who kidnapped her and killed her family four years earlier.
The story is set days before the Civil War. Hanks’ Kidd travels from town to town to read the news to locals who would otherwise not know what is going on in the world. In the book, Zengel’s character is an ornery youngster who didn’t want to be rescued and brought to her relatives. Together the duo faces the inhospitable frontier.
Zengel most recently starred in System Crasher, a film by Nora Fingscheidt that will represent Germany as the official submission for the 92nd Oscar in the category Best International Feature Film. That movie made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival back in February. Deadline exclusively reported that the movie, which was originally set up at Fox 2000, moved over to Uni soon after Disney’s acquisition of Fox. The pic reps a re-team for Hanks and director Greengrass who worked on the Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips.
Hanks and Gary Goetzman will produce News of the World through Playtone with Gregory Goodman (22 July, Jason Bourne) as well as Gail Mutrux through her Pretty Pictures. Greengrass’ wrote the latest version of the script, with an earlier draft by Luke Davies (Lion). Zengel is represented by Bahl For Actors.
News of the World Cast
- Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd
- Helena Zengel as Johanna Leonberger
- Michael Covino as Ron Avalon
- Fred Hechinger as Thomas Kidd
- Neil Sandilands as Wilhelm Leonberger
- Thomas Francis Murphy as Merritt Farley
- Mare Winningham as Jane
- Elizabeth Marvel as Gannett
- Chukwudi Iwuji as Charles Edgefield
News of the World Release Date
News of the World is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on Christmas Day 2020 in the US, and New Year's Day 2021 in the UK
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