Tom Hanks is attached to star in a hot new sci-fi project called Bios, which is currently being shopped to studios, with several potential bidders eyeing the project. Among them are Legendary, Warner Bros. and Studio 8, but whichever studio lands this project, they're expected to get to work rather quickly, with production being eyed to start in the first quarter of 2018, after the busy schedule of Tom Hanks starts to clear up.
The script was written by Craig Luck and Ivor Powell, which is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The story centers on a robot built by its ailing creator (Tom Hanks) to take care of his beloved dog, as he starts to fade away. Along the way, this robot learns about love, friendship and the meaning of human life. No further details were given about the story, or how many other characters still need to be cast. Still, given that the story is set within a post-apocalyptic environment, it could mean that there may not be a huge cast, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
The film will be directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who is directing only his second film after his 2010 directorial debut, the sci-fi film Repo Men, starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. The filmmaker has been keeping plenty busy on the small screen though, winning an Emmy Award last year for his direction on the iconic Game of Thrones episode "The Battle of the Batards." He has also directed episodes of Iron Fist, Masters of Sex, True Detective, Extant, Mind Games, Banshee, Fringe, Awake, Falling Skies and House. The filmmaker is also slated to return to Game of Thrones to direct possibly one of two episodes of the final season, which is currently in production.
While Tom Hanks is certainly still one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, his last few films haven't fared as well, both critically and commercially. His last two movies, Inferno, the third installment of his Robert Langdon franchise, only pulled in $34.3 million domestic, although it did much better internationally with $185.6 million for a worldwide $220 million from a $75 million budget. Earlier this year, he starred in the social media thriller The Circle, alongside young superstars like Emma Watson and John Boyega, which only earned $20.9 million domestic, with no foreign box office data available, from an $18 million budget. His luck at the box office may turn around later this year, starring in The Post, reuniting with his Bridge of Spies director Steven Spielberg.
Tom Hanks will also reprise his surprisingly iconic role as David S. Pumpkins from a hit Saturday Night Live sketch for The David S. Pumpkins Halloween Special, airing Saturday, October 28 at 11:30 PM on NBC. Writers Craig Luck and Ivor Powell have taken interesting paths through Hollywood, with Craig Luck serving as a jack of all trades in many different departments, as a production assistant on Thor: The Dark World, Maleficent and Cinderella and a video assist on current movies like Doctor Strange, The Infiltrator, Jason Bourne and the upcoming The Commuter. Ivor Powell, on the other hand, served as an associate producer on a pair of Ridley Scott classics, Alien and Blade Runner. Variety broke the news on the casting earlier today.