Sony acquires worldwide rights to Tom Hanks’ Greyhound, a WWII drama

Movie rights can sometimes be a tricky aspect of the business. Every studio wants that high-profile box-office dollar, and every now and again, will swoop in under the raider to get a piece of the action. Today, it’s been reported that Sony Pictures is grabbing an ambitious film project off the Berlin marketplace by acquiring the worldwide rights to GREYHOUND, a World War II drama penned by actor Tom Hanks with GET LOW’s Aaron Schneider poised to direct.

In addition to writing the script, Hanks will also star in the film as Commander George Krause, a career officer who is finally given command of a Navy destroyer. Throughout the course of the film, Krause will work not just to prove his mettle to the men and women of his unit, but also to vanquish the personal demons of self-doubt that reside deep within his heart and soul.

The film will be fully-financed by FilmNation, under a working budget of $30 million for production expenses. Hanks will have adapted the script using the novel The Good Shepard by C.S. Forester – whose works also include the Horatio Hornblower series, as well as the literary classic The African Queen. 

Production on GREYHOUND is expected to start in May of this year, which has Sony looking to release the finished product some time in 2018.

And be sure to catch Tom Hanks when he stars beside Emma Watson, Karen GIllan, Bill Paxton, Patton Oswalt, Ellen Wong, and John Boyega in the social media psychological thriller THE CIRCLE, opening in theaters on April 28, 2017.