Tom Hanks says decision to release new film on Apple TV+ is ‘an absolute heartbreak’

Greyhound was originally intended for a big-screen release until the coronavirus pandemic shut cinemas

Tom Hanks has called the decision to debut his new film on streaming platform Apple TV+ “an absolute heartbreak”.

Greyhound, which stars Hanks as a US Navy commander at the beginning of the Second World War, was originally intended for cinema release. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, Sony Pictures sold the film’s rights to Apple TV+, where it will debut on 10 July.

Hanks also wrote the film, and told The Guardian that its move to a streaming service was “an absolute heartbreak”.

“I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords,” he explained, “but there is a difference in picture and sound quality.”

Hanks also claimed that “the cruel whip-masters at Apple” had requested that he conduct press from his home office in front of a blank wall, and not one stocked with his personal belongings.

He joked that he therefore feels as if he is in “a witness protection programme”, adding: “Here I am, bowing to the needs of Apple TV.”

Hanks, like many recognisable faces during the pandemic, has been promoting his work via video conferencing from the comfort of his own home.

Hanks and his wife, actor and musician Rita Wilson, were the first high-profile stars to contract coronavirus. The pair were diagnosed while Hanks was filming an Elvis Presley biopic in Australia.

The film, which is directed by Moulin Rouge’s Baz Luhrmann, will resume production this month following its three-month hiatus.