Tom Hanks' WWII epic Greyhound abandons theatrical release, charts a course for Apple TV+

Tom Hanks knows better than most how serious the COVID-19 pandemic is, which is likely why he and the team behind his upcoming World War II epic Greyhound have decided not to wait this one out. Deadline reports that, unlike most big-budget studio films, Greyhound will premiere not in a post-COVID world, but as a streaming title on Apple TV+. A new release date is forthcoming, but don’t be surprised if docks at the nascent streamer on Father’s Day weekend, when it was originally slated to premiere in theaters.

Greyhound, the latest in Hanks’ myriad of WWII projects, stars Hanks as “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 WW2,” per a synopsis.

Aaron Schneider, who previously directed 2009's Get Low, directs from a script from Hanks himself. Elisabeth Shue and The Irishman’s Stephen Graham round out the cast of the oceanic action flick, which, based on the below trailer, would assuredly play a lot better on the big screen than the small one.

But such is reality in a time when tentpoles are either delaying their premieres to 2021 or crossing their fingers that theaters will be operating as normal come fall. It’s a huge get for Apple TV+, which saw its first original feature embroiled in a scandal, though not necessarily a surprising one—Apple, after all, is where Hanks and Steven Spielberg will premiere their next Band Of Brothers follow-up, Masters Of The Air.

Nevertheless, Deadline reports that Apple may have paid up to $70 million for the feature amidst a massive bidding war. Happy sailing, indeed.