Tom Hanks Will Be The Next Mr. Rogers
There’s a new biopic coming out about the life of our favorite neighbor Mr. Rogers, and it sounds like Tom Hanks will star as the man himself.
By nowproducerdave on January 30, 2018
Oh yes, this will be good. I mean, anything NorCal-born Tom Hanks touches turns to gold (well, except for “Joe Versus the Volcano,” but we won’t get into that), and Mr. Rogers is already pretty universally loved, so we can’t wait for this movie to come out.
It’s going to be a biopic, so it’ll be about the life of Mr. Rogers more than a movie-version of an episode of the TV show. It’s based upon a real-life friendship that Fred Rogers had with a reporter named Tom Junod. The basis is that the journalist with a sort of misanthropic outlook on life reluctantly agrees to write a story on Mr. Rogers, but once they meet, the journalist’s opinion of things starts to change, and the two develop a lifelong relationship. The title? “You Are My Friend.”
The movie has apparently been in story form for some time (since 2013-ish), and it was just acquired by a production company, so now the ball can get rolling on filming. It is a true story, not just “inspired by a true story” by the sounds of it. Marielle Heller will be the director (she also directed “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” and has been in several movies herself), and so far it seems like Tom Hanks is confirmed to be playing Mr. Rogers. Wouldn’t that be a twist if he turns out to be the journalist and someone else comes in to be Fred Rogers. Nah, we think Tom will be playing the part of Fred – we hope.
Marielle said “I’m thrilled to be making You Are My Friend. The script knocked me out with its message of kindness and its exploration of the human spirit. As a mother, I am so inspired by the teachings of Fred Rogers and as a human I am in awe of his life’s work. I can’t wait to bring his story to the public and be a part of such a thoughtful, smart group of people who are all coming together to make this film, which truly feels to me like an antidote to our very fractured culture.” I think we’ve all been influenced by or have taken some kind of message away from watching Mr. Rogers, and I can’t wait to see the final movie. It’s early, early in the planning stages, so there’s no estimated release date yet, so we’ll see.
See all the details here.
