The first general image from the upcoming Fred Rogers drama A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has been released by Sony. The image shows Tom Hanks as Rogers shaking hands with Matthew Rhys who plays the journalist Tom Junod.
The film surrounds a jaded Junod writing a profile on Rogers for Esquire. According to the film synopsis, his friendship with Rogers which would eventually change his skeptical look on life and cause him to learn “empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbor.”
The original 1998 profile which inspired the movie can be found here.
The film is set to come out November 22nd of this year. It’s directed by Marielle Heller, who previously directed Can You Ever Forgive Me? and written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster.
The film was originally called You Are My Friend and is “not a biopic” as Heller told Entertainment Weekly. “I disliked that when it got announced it was characterized as such. It’s really not. It’s a movie that’s largely focused on a reporter and [Mr. Rogers’] relationship to his life, and how [the reporter’s] whole world changes when coming in contact with Fred Rogers,” said Heller.
Just last year, the Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? grossed over $22 million dollars, becoming the 12th highest grossing documentary of all time.
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