Hanks and Roberts in Larry Crowne

Posted on January 12, 2010
Filed Under Actors, Actresses, Directors

During the holidays I watched “Sleepless in Seattle” for the 52124 time. Not that I find that ol’ 80′s classic such a gem but for some reason it’s shown on every channel, every day. Year after year. Well, almost… Anyway, watching it I realized that Meg Ryan was a very beautiful woman back then, and Tom Hanks has somehow slowly disappeared from the silver screen. The guy was gold back then! And still is! But you don’t see him that much nowadays. Maybe he has become more picky in his selection of projects…?

Deadline.com reports that Tom Hanks has written a film called “Larry Crowne,” starring himself and the beautiful Julia Roberts. Apparently he’s also going to direct it. It’s a comedy that will begin production April in Los Angeles. The financing and distribution details are still coming together, and I’ll provide those as soon I confirm how CAA has packaged it. Gary Goetzman, Hanks’s Playtone partner, is the producer.

I’m told that Hanks will play the title character, a man forced to reinvent himself and find a new career as he navigates the second act of his life. “Larry Crowne” is the first feature Hanks has directed since 1996’s now classic music pic “That Thing You Do!” He also wrote that film, and it was enough of a seminal event for Hanks and Goetzman that they named their company after the record label in the film, the one that signed the one-hit wonders.

So this ends the guessing game of which film will be next for Hanks, whose last starring role was this past summer’s “Angels & Demons,” as well as for Roberts, who recently completed the adaptation of the Elizabeth Gilbert memoir “Eat, Pray, Love” for Columbia Pictures.

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