From one remarkable true-life tale to another, American Sniper helmer and all-round film legend Clint Eastwood will be back behind the lens later this year for Sully, a cinematic white-knuckle ride that recounts the Miracle of the Hudson.
Placing Tom Hanks in the shoes of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, Eastwood’s biopic chronicles the doomed journey of US Airways Flight 1549, which was forced into an emergency water landing seven years ago after losing power to all engines.
Lifting inspiration from Sullenberger’s own memoir Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters – one he penned along with Jeffrey Zaslow – Sully focuses on the pilot’s personal life and trauma just as much as the miracle itself, as air safety investigators begin to pour over each and every detail of the emergency landing, with some even going so far as to call the pilot’s actions into question.
With Tom Hanks aboard as the captain, Warner Bros. has surrounded its lead star with a host of A-list talent, including Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, Jamey Sheridan, and Jerry Ferrara.
Sully will be cleared for take-off on September 9. Its destination? 2016’s Oscar race.
On January 15, 2009, the world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain Sully glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career.