Apple TV+ inside look: “Greyhound” star Tom Hanks educates us on the Battle of Atlantic

The upcoming WWII epic “Greyhound” is launching on Apple TV+ this Friday, marking the first time a Tom Hanks movie is debuting on a streaming service. Ahead of its Apple TV+ premiere, the iPhone maker today shared an inside-look video in which the project’s screenwriter and main star talks about the importance of the Battle of Atlantic in 1942.

Staying alive in the North Atlantic in 1942

In “Greyhound”, famous actor Tom Hanks plays captain Ernest Krause who leads an international convoy of 37 ships on a treacherous mission across The Atlantic. The convoy is tasked with delivering thousands of soldiers and supplies to Allied forces.

Watch the embedded video from Apple right ahead.

Running 88 minutes long, “Greyhound” is inspired by real events.

Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan and Elisabeth Shue star alongside Hanks. This Apple original film was directed by Aaron Schneider and produced by Gary Goetzman. As per CNBC, Apple paid Sony about $70 million for 15 years of streaming rights to the project.

Sony has retained the right to distribute “Greyhound” in China.

The “Greyhound” controversy

“Greyhound” was supposed to be a major theatrical blockbuster scheduled to be released on Father’s Day by Sony Pictures, but then the coronavirus happened and Hollywood basically delayed all major releases in the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Perhaps in order to stir up a little controversy and drum up excitement ahead of the movie’s Apple TV+ release, the actor made same ambiguous comments in an interview with the British newspaper Guardian that some of the Apple blogs interpreted as offensive, iDB included. The main point of contention seems to be the shift from the Big Screen to streaming due to the coronavirus shutdowns, which Hanks labeled as “an absolute heartbreak”.

“I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality,” he told the paper. His PR agency later provided a statement to the media to clarify that the actor’s light-hearted comment wasn’t meant to insult Apple or its customers.

The upcoming movie, he said, revolves around a story which speaks to what we’re all going through right now. “We didn’t know that at the time we made the film, we were just trying to make a lean, new spare version about procedures and behaviors about how difficult it was to stay alive in the North Atlantic in 1942,” he added.

Will you be watching “Greyhound”?

“Greyhound” is launching on Apple TV on Friday, July 10.

Do you plan on watching this A-project or not? If so, what are your expectations from this movie? I’m kinda of fed up with all the WWII flicks, but “Greyhound” does look exceptional and has Hanks’ seal of approval. That must be a good thing, right?

Let us know how you feel about “Greyhound” in the comments down below.