Tom Hanks has offered his thoughts on the five irrevocable steps that will decide how a creator and their film will be remembered.
Since making his debut as a motion picture leading man all the way back in 1984’s Splash, Tom Hanks has learned a thing or two about the various points of no return when it comes to film production. Considering how long the actor has been taking on that leading man responsibility, he’s fine tuned a production’s success into five crucial stages.
Speaking to The New Yorker, Hanks gave his thoughts on the five key moments that seal a movie’s fate, for better or for worse. Using that classic Americanism of the Rubicon, Hanks states, “the first Rubicon you cross is saying yes to the film. Your fate is sealed. You are going to be in that movie.”
He adds, “the second Rubicon is when you actually see the movie that you made. It either works and is the movie you wanted to make, or it does not work and it’s not the movie you wanted to make.”
Number three is the critical response to a film, “which is a version of the vox populi”. Then number four is the commercial returns of the movie.
Finally, the last key moment is one that could only have been added by a seasoned veteran of the business who has seen things go both ways over a long career. “The fifth Rubicon is time where that movie lands 20 years after the fact. What happens when people look at it, perhaps by accident,” he concludes.
It’s an interesting piece in which Hanks admits he’s made films that he hates and bluntly states that we as audiences hate some of his films too. There’s no doubt that the man can still open though, as was proved by his recent grumpy old man drama, A Man Called Otto which took over $100m, something that other mid-budget movies can really struggle to do. Still, according to Hanks’ ‘Five Rubicons’, we’ll have to wait 20 years to appreciate the full measure of that film’s success.
Hanks will next be seen featuring in the ensemble for Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, releasing later this month.
Image: BigStock
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