Although it was already known that Tom Hanks would be serving as Executive Producer on Meg Ryan’s upcoming directorial debut, Ithaca, The Hollywood Reporter today brings word that Hanks will also appear briefly in the film, marking the fourth feature in which he and Ryan have costarred after 1990’s Joe Versus the Volcano, 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle and 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.
Ithaca adapts William Saroyan’s 1943 novel “The Human Comedy” and follows the lives of a Californian family, the Maculeys, as they live through World War II. Hanks will play the father of the family who, as the story begins, is already off at war.
Ryan is both starring and directing from an adapted screenplay by Erik Jendresen (“Band of Brothers”). Also in the cast are Melanie Griffith, Jack Quaid and Sam Shepard.
Janet Brenner and Laura Ivey are are attached to produce.
