‘Greyhound’ on Apple TV+: What Time Tom Hanks’ WWII Drama Premieres

Greyhound, the newest film starring Tom Hanks, is going straight to streaming with movie theaters closed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The film, which was originally slated for a traditional theatrical release in June, will be available on Apple TV+ at 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT Friday, July 10. Anyone with a subscription to the newer streaming platform will get to enjoy the film at that point.

Greyhound is a new World War II drama set during the early days of the U.S.’s involvement. Hanks stars as Capt. Ernest Krause, the commander of the USS Keeling, which is leading a convoy of Allied ships across dangerous North Atlantic waters. The film was written by Hanks and is based on the novel The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester. The cast also includes Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan, Elisabeth Shue, and Hanks’ son Chet Hanks. It is the first film directed by Aaron Schneider since the acclaimed 2009 Robert Duvall movie Get Low.

Apple TV+ costs $4.99 per month and can be used by up to six people on a single account thanks to Family Sharing. You get a free seven-day trial before your account is charged. Anyone who recently purchased an iPhone, iPad, or other pieces of Apple hardware is eligible for a free year of Apple TV+ if redeemed within 90 days of activating the device, notes 9To5Mac.

Even though Greyhound features one of the most famous actors in the world, Sony Pictures moved the film around its schedule multiple times. It was originally scheduled to hit theaters in March 2019, but it was pushed back all the way to May 8, 2020, to mark the 75th anniversary of V-E Day. In early March, it was rescheduled for June 12. When Sony reshuffled its 2020 slate due to the coronavirus, Greyhound was taken off the schedule and was briefly stuck in limbo. On May 19, Deadline reported Apple TV+ acquired distribution rights for over $70 million, its largest film acquisition yet.

While Hanks is happy that audiences will get to see the film at all, he would have been even happier if they got to see it in a theater as intended. He told The Guardian the streaming release is “an absolute heartbreak.” The actor added, “I don’t mean to make angry my Apple overlords, but there is a difference in picture and sound quality that goes along with [switching from the cinema to TV].”

Hanks and his wife, singer Rita Wilson, both have firsthand experience with the coronavirus, as they were the first major Hollywood stars diagnosed with it in March. Thankfully today, they are feeling much better. “Oh no, we’re fine,” he told The Guardian. “Our discomfort because of the virus was pretty much done in two weeks and we had very different reactions, and that was odd.”