A sequel to the Tom Hanks starring World War II drama, Greyhound, is now pressing ahead for release on Apple TV+, a report by Deadline confirms. The Greyhound follow-up comes as part of a new multi-year exclusive deal signed between Apple Original Films and Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone, which will see not only Greyhound 2 take shape but will also include “series, documentaries and unscripted projects” for Apple to develop and add to their growing roster.
Released to Apple TV+ in July 2020, Greyhound follows Academy Award winner Tom Hanks as U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause, who is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. His convoy, however, is pursued by German U-boats, and even though this is Krause's first wartime mission, he finds himself embroiled in what would come to be known as the longest, largest, and most complex naval battle in history: The Battle of the Atlantic.
Directed by Aaron Schneider and starring Tom Hanks, who also wrote the screenplay, Greyhound is based on the 1955 novel "The Good Shepherd" by C. S. Forester, and co-stars Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan, Elisabeth Shue, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Karl Glusman, Tom Brittney, Matt Helm and Thomas Kretschmann alongside Hanks.
Greyhound was met with positive reviews from critics, who praised the action sequences and pacing of the World War II thriller (as well as criticizing the thinly drawn characters), with the movie currently sitting at an impressive 78% on Rotten Tomatoes. Greyhound quickly became the most-watched movie on the Apple TV+ service, before later being taken over by another Tom Hanks-led outing, the post-apocalyptic survival flick, Finch.
Tom Hanks Was Initially Heartbroken That Greyhound Went Straight to Streaming
Greyhound has originally been scheduled for a traditional theatrical release, with Sony Pictures Releasing initially intending to bring the movie to big screens everywhere in June 2020. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, these plans had to be changed, with Greyhound ultimately being sent straight to streaming on Apple TV+.
This decision to skip theaters had been "an absolute heartbreak" for Tom Hanks, with the actor adding at the time that; "I don't mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality.” Thankfully, these obvious differences did not affect these aspects of Greyhound too badly, with the WWII movie receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound as the 93rd Academy Awards.
It seems that, despite his initial trepidation over the move towards streaming, Tom Hanks is now on board, at least in part, and it will be interesting to see what other projects the actor and Playtone develop for the streaming service alongside the Greyhound sequel.
The first Greyhound is now available to stream on Apple TV+. Tom Hanks has several major projects in the pipeline, including Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic in which he will star as Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis' manager; Robert Zemeckis’ live-action remake of Pinocchio in which he will star as Geppetto; and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which will see Hanks star alongside a large ensemble cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, and more.