The first official trailer for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was released Monday morning, making it loud and clear that Tom Hanks makes for a perfect Fred Rogers. The biographical drama is the latest from Marielle Heller, the director behind Can You Ever Forgive Me? and The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, centers around the unexpected friendship between Rogers and award-winning journalist Lloyd Vogel (The Americans‘ Matthew Rhys) when the journalist is forced to take an assignment from Esquire to write a profile on Rogers. As Rogers’ outlook on life begins to change Vogel, the job turns out to be a surprising one. Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us) and Chris Cooper (August: Osage County) also star.
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“This piece will be for an issue about heroes,” Rhys’ character tells Rogers in the new clip. “Do you consider yourself a hero?”
He responds, “We are trying to give the world positive ways of dealing with their feelings.”
“There are many things you can do,” Rogers offers up. “You can play all the lowest keys on the piano at the same time.”
The trailer highlights the feel-good film’s important message of kindness in a skeptical world.
“Sometimes we have to ask for help and that’s okay,” Rogers concludes. “I think the best thing we can do is to let people know that each one of them is precious.”
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood will be Hanks’ second film of 2019, as he already appeared in theaters this summer in his iconic role of Woody in Toy Story 4. The animated film has grossed over $375 million in the U.S. and $859 million worldwide since opening June 21.
Hanks’ last live-action role was starring opposite Meryl Streep in Steven Spielberg’s 2017 drama The Post, earning him Oscar buzz. The same could happen again for Hanks with A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which will debut during the peak of awards season.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is set to premiere on Nov. 22, 2019.
