Tom Hanks has called the decision to release his new movie on the Apple TV + streaming platform “an absolute heartbreak.”
Greyhound, which stars Hanks as commander of the U.S. Navy at the start of World War II, was originally intended for a movie premiere. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sony Pictures sold the rights to the film to Apple TV +, where it will be released on July 10.
Hanks also wrote the film and told The Guardian that his switch to a broadcast service was “utter anguish”.
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“I don’t want to piss off my lords at Apple,” he explained, “but there is a difference in image and sound quality.”
Hanks also claimed that “Apple’s cruel whip masters” had asked him to run the press from his home office in front of a blank wall, and that no one should store his personal belongings.
He joked that he therefore feels he is in “a witness protection program,” adding: “Here I am, bowing to the needs of Apple TV.”
Hanks, like many recognizable faces during the pandemic, has been promoting his work through videoconferencing 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 couple was diagnosed while Hanks was filming an Elvis Presley biopic in Australia.
The film, directed by Moulin RougeBaz Luhrmann will resume production this month after its three-month hiatus.
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