Tom Hanks will enter the jewel-box world of Wes Anderson. The Oscar-winning “Forest Gump” star will play a cameo role in the director’s next, as-yet untitled effort.
He will play an unspecified minor role, joining a cast of heavyweights that includes Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Adrian Brody. It marks the first collaboration between Hanks and Anderson. That’s remarkable given how Hanks has sought out top auteurs over his decades in the business, previously collaborating with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, Paul Greengrass, Robert Zemeckis and the Coen Brothers.
Details about the plot of Anderson’s latest are being kept under wraps, but the film will no doubt be a meticulously constructed feast for the eyes, overflowing with hyper-stylized set design and framing. All those attributes were on full display this year at Cannes, where Anderson debuted “The French Dispatch,” a love letter to journalism that earned positive reviews. Searchlight Picture will open the film on Oct. 22. It stars Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss, Willem Dafoe and Jeffrey Wright, along with the aforementioned Brody, Murray and Swinton.
Hanks recently starred in the World War II drama “Greyhound” for Apple TV Plus and earned an Oscar nomination for channeling Fred Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” He will next be seen as Geppetto in a live-action version of “Pinocchio” that is set to premiere on Disney Plus and as Colonel Tom Parker in Baz Luhrmann’s untitled film about Elvis Presley.
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The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Hanks’ involvement.