Tom Hanks in talks to play Sully Sullenberger in Clint Eastwood’s new film

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

With the monstrous success of AMERICAN SNIPER, director Clint Eastwood's next film will deal with a different sort of hero; Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the man who successfully pulled off the miraculous emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in what would later be known as the "Miracle on the Hudson." Clint Eastwood announced that he would be tackling the Sully project earlier in the month and the search for an actor to portray Captain Sullenberger was on.

That search may have ended with Clint Eastwood scoring himself a heck of an actor; Deadline reports that Tom Hanks is currently negotiating with Warner Bros. to portray the heroic pilot. As Hanks has played more than a handful of similar everyman characters who find themselves in situations that necessitate heroics, this role won't exactly be a big leap for the actor, but he's a welcome addition nonetheless.

Captain Sullenberger himself gave his approval to Clint Eastwood as the project began to move forward:

I am very glad my story is in the hands of gifted storyteller and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, and veteran producers Allyn Stewart and Frank Marshall. The project could not have found a better home than Warner Bros. Pictures. This is truly a dream team.

I'd imagine that he'd be equally pleased that Tom Hanks will be portraying him, after all, who wouldn't be? Megan Fox possibly. Clint Eastwood will be directing the biopic from a screenplay by Todd Komarnicki, which in turn drew from "Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters," the book written by Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow. Those hungry for more Tom Hanks on the big-screen will have to wait until October 16, 2015, which is when Steven Spielberg's BRIDGE OF SPIES will be released.