Tom Hanks Slams One Of His Most Successful Movies
Tom Hanks may be one of the most prolific actors of our generation, but the man recently bashed his most successful film.
As one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors, Tom Hanks’ career is a true masterpiece. He’s worked in every genre and won every available award. He’s come a long way from his days on the Bosom Buddies sitcom. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the actor took a trip down memory lane, recalling some of his best and worst projects to date. When asked about one of his biggest blockbusters, The Da Vinci Code, the 65-year-old trashed the film, describing it as commercial hooey.
Based on Dan Brown’s popular best-selling mystery-thriller novel series, the trilogy of films follows Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) – a professor of religious symbology who constantly finds himself at the center of a worldwide conspiracy. Beginning with the second book, The Da Vinci Code, the actor returned to the Ron Howard-directed film franchise in Angels & Demons and Inferno. Although the movies did well at the global box office, with the entire franchise earning almost $1.5 billion, each installment received mixed reviews. And ticket sales began to diminish as the story progressed.
Speaking to the publication, Tom Hanks likened the franchise to delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage. “That was a commercial enterprise,” the Elvis star said. “Those Robert Langdon sequels are hooey. The Da Vinci Code was hooey.” Hanks continued, “All we were doing is promising a diversion.” The actor made to mention that there’s nothing wrong with doing commercial films, provided it is good commerce. But he said, by the time they had made the third it wasn’t good commerce anymore.
Interestingly, The Da Vinci Code franchise continued in a Peacock spin-off series called The Lost Symbol. The series debuted in 2021 with Ashley Zuckerman starring as Robert Langdon – the role made famous by Tom Hanks in the films. Set years before the events of the first movie, the story followed a young Robert Langdon who is hired by the CIA to solve several deadly puzzles when his mentor goes missing. Sadly, its reception wasn’t much better than the movies. And after the first 10-episode season, it was canceled, IndieWire reports.
Meanwhile, the Oscar winner is set to appear in the upcoming Elvis biopic. Inspired by actual events, the story chronicles the life and career of Elvis Presley while examining the complex relationship between the musician and his manager Colonel Tom Parker. The movie is directed by Baz Luhrmann from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. The film stars newcomer Austin Butler in the lead role, with Tom Hanks as his infamous manager. Luke Bracey, David Wenham, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Kodi Smit-McPhee, Gary Clark Jr., and Richard Roxburgh also appear in supporting roles.
Tom Hanks will also lend his talents to the Disney+ musical fantasy feature, Pinocchio. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis from a script he worked on with Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the story is a live-action adaptation of the 1940 animated film of the same name, which is based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi. The film also stars Cynthia Erivo and Luke Evans, with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The movie will be released on Disney+ on September 8th.
