Greyhound: Apple developing sequel to Tom Hanks’ WWII film

Tom Hanks’ Greyhound was initially slated to debut in theaters but experienced several delays before Apple TV+ acquired the rights and premiered the World War II film in the summer of 2020. Greyhound became one of Apple’s most-watched movies, and Deadline has now reported that a sequel is in the works.

Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone have inked a multi-year exclusive overall deal with Apple TV+ to develop, produce, and distribute a variety of series, documentaries, and unscripted projects. One of those projects is the Greyhound sequel. There’s no information on just what type of story the Greyhound sequel would tell, but more WWII tales from Tom Hanks can’t be wrong.

Greyhound told a thrilling story inspired by actual events from the Battle of the Atlantic based on The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester. Tom Hanks starred as Ernest Krause, a first-time captain who leads a convoy of allied ships carrying thousands of soldiers across the treacherous waters of the “Black Pit” to the front lines of WWII. With no air cover protection for five days, Captain Krause and his convoy battled the surrounding enemy Nazi U-boats to give the allies a chance to win the war. Aaron Schneider directed Greyhound from a screenplay by Tom Hanks.

Although Tom Hanks was disappointed that Greyhound wouldn’t play in theaters as intended, he was grateful that Apple came to the rescue. “This is a magnificent gift that’s come to us because of Apple,” Hanks said. “Because COVID-19 did something heartbreaking to us all. It closed down the theaters. We don’t have the cinema. There isn’t anybody that doesn’t like going to see a good movie with 800 other people and coming out with something in common. Barring that, Apple Television has saved the day for us. We had a magnificent movie that was not going to be seen because of the realities.” You can check out a review of Greyhound from our own Chris Bumbray right here.