Tom Hanks Says ‘Greyhound’ Going Straight to Streaming is “An Absolute Heartbreak”

By Claire Spellberg @c_spellberg
Published July 6, 2020, 9:00 a.m. ET

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Tom Hanks is wading into the streaming vs. theatrical war. In a new interview with The Guardian, Hanks lamented the fact that his new film Greyhound will be released exclusively on Apple TV+ rather than on the big screen. The beloved actor, who recently recovered from coronavirus alongside his wife Rita Wilson, explained that Greyhound‘s straight-to-streaming release is “an absolute heartbreak,” as viewers will no longer be able to appreciate the film’s production and sound quality.

Greyhound was originally scheduled for a June 19 theatrical release, but the novel coronavirus pandemic complicated that plan and created a window for a streamer to swoop in with a major deal. Apple reportedly paid close to $70 million — the company’s largest theatrical acquisition to date — for exclusive rights to the World War II drama, which will now hit the platform on Friday, July 10.

While Hanks, Greyhound star, co-writer, and producer, is happy viewers will finally be able to see his expansive drama, he told The Guardian that the film, a decade in the making, deserves to be seen in theaters. “I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality,” he said.

The prolific actor added that “the cruel whipmasters at Apple” have commandeered the Greyhound PR tour to the point that he had to rearrange his home office to prevent journalists from analyzing his background in virtual interviews. Hanks told The Guardian that Apple’s PR team insisted he do interviews in front of a blank wall, making it look as if he’s in “a witness protection program.” Added Hanks, “But here I am, bowing to the needs of Apple TV.”

During the wide-ranging interview, Hanks also opened up about his experience battling the novel coronavirus in March. Hanks insisted that he and wife Rita Wilson “had very different reactions” and symptoms during the two weeks that they were in quarantine. “My wife lost her sense of taste and smell, she had severe nausea, she had a much higher fever than I did,” he said. “I just had crippling body aches, I was very fatigued all the time and I couldn’t concentrate on anything for more than about 12 minutes. That last bit is kinda like my natural state anyway.”

Read Tom Hanks’ entire interview with The Guardian here.