We already knew that Tom Hanks was set to work as a producer on Meg Ryan’s debut directorial effort Ithaca, but it looks like he’ll be briefly starring in the film too according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ithaca is based on William Saroyan’s 1943 novel The Human Comedy which is described as:
The place is Ithaca, in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The time is World War II. The family is the Macauley’s—a mother, sister, and three brothers whose struggles and dreams reflect those of America’s second-generation immigrants…In particular, fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become one of the fastest telegraph messengers in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw.
According to the report, Hanks will play the father of the family who is already off at war.
Ryan will star in the movie as well as direct and the script has been written by Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers). Melanie Griffith (Dark Tourist), Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) and Sam Shepard (Cold in July) will also star.
This will mark the fourth time Hanks and Ryan have shared the screen together having previously starred in Joe Versus the Volcano in 1990, Sleepless in Seattle in 1993 and You’ve Got Mail in 1998.
Originally published June 26, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
