Sept. 28 (UPI) — Tom Hanks‘ first novel, and his second piece of fiction writing, is due out next year and has been described by its publisher as a “wildly ambitious” story about the making of a film.
The novel, called “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,“ is due out May 9, 2023, and will be published by Penguin Random House.
The book is about the movie business and the making of a “colossal, star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film and the humble comic book that inspired it,” per an official synopsis, according to People Magazine.
Hanks, 66, told People that story was based off his personal experiences.
“Every character in the book does something I’ve experienced while making a movie, as well as discovered a philosophy or learned an important lesson. Even the foolish moments are some kind of stunt I’ve pulled or mistake I’ve survived,” he said.
The novel spans several decades and illustrates the changes that American culture has undergone since World War II. A boy grows up to draw comic books, and then those books are turned into a big-budget superhero movie.
“The source for a movie can go back as many years as are in history. A story turns on a single moment in the life of someone, then all the anecdotes of the current day magnify that moment,” Hanks told People. “Going back to 1947 makes sense, as would have starting in, say, 1559. Human yearning has proven to be timeless.”
Hanks also wrote a collection of short stories in 2017, called “Uncommon Type.” According to The Guardian, the stories have sold 234,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
