See Tom Hanks Play A Grump In A Man Called Otto Trailer
Tom Hanks is coming back in theaters, playing a grumpy widower in A Man Called Otto.
Tom Hanks is headed back to theaters, headlining the big-screen adaptation of a New York Times bestseller. The Forrest Gump star leads A Man Called Otto, based on Swedish author Fredrik Backman’s 2012 novel A Man Called Ove, and tells the story of a grumpy widower named Otto (Hanks) who finds his world turned upside down by a family who moves into his neighborhood. The film is directed by Marc Forster, who also directed Finding Neverland, and is his big-screen follow-up to his performance as Colonel Tom Parker in the biopic Elvis earlier this year.
Hanks plays Otto Anderson, who is very set in his ways and finds his patience tried by a new family who has moved in next door. He forges an unlikely friendship with the family’s very pregnant mother Marisol, played by Mariana Treviño (Overboard) and with a stray cat who will not leave him alone. Eventually, Otto’s curmudgeonly exterior is cracked, and much heartwarming ensues.
In addition to Tom Hanks, the film also stars Rachel Keller (Fargo) and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Magnificent Seven). The screenplay is written by Academy Award nominee David Magee (Finding Neverland) and is produced by Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Fredrik Wikström Nicastro. A 2016 Swedish film adaptation was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Foreign Film and Best Makeup) and was the top grossing foreign language film released in the United States.
In an interview with People, Tom Hanks said the film is an exploration of friendship with the people you share your life with. “A Man Called Otto is a movie about community and a movie about family,” he said. “The way you treat your own neighbors, the way people can come together in any time of crisis happens over and over again.”
Tom Hanks has stayed busy as of late, working consistently even during the pandemic. Following his Oscar-nominated turn as Fred Rogers in 2019’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Hanks starred in the Apple TV+ World War II flick Greyhound and Paul Greengrass’ Netflix film News of the World in 2020. He led the another Apple TV+ film, the sci-fi tale Finch, in 2021, and made a brief cameo in the Yellowstone prequel 1883.
In September, Tom Hanks starred as Geppetto in the Disney+ live-action adaptation of Pinocchio. His next project is the big-budget sci-fi film Asteroid City from Wes Anderson, which also stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers) and Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey). After that, he stars in a Robert Zemeckis film, Here, a drama that follows the lives of people over a number of years, as their lives intersect within a particular room.
Giant Freaking Robot recently reported exclusively that Tom Hanks was in talks to play a villain in The Flash 2.
In all, Tom Hanks has been nominated for six Academy Awards for acting during his career, winning twice for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. He has also been nominated for 15 Emmy for his work behind the camera on numerous documentaries and series, winning sic throughout his career for his work on Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon, among others.
A Man Called Otto opens in limited release for Christmas, with a wide opening on January 13, 2023. You can find out more at the film’s official website.
