The one movie that changed Tom Hanks’ “entire consciousness” but flopped at the box office
When considering the acting legend that is Tom Hanks, it’s hard not to think of all-American charm and a run of genuine box office smash hits.
After all, Hanks himself has one of the strongest audience-pulling powers in Hollywood, and cinema fans regularly flock to their local theatres to see what character creation he can conjure up next. It’s part of what makes him arguably one of the most well-rounded actors ever.
The 1980s saw the likes of The Money Pit and Big as the big box office hitters for Hanks before he went on to star in Philadelphia, Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan in the preceding decade. Hanks didn’t rest on his laurels from there, though, and continued to deliver in the 21st century with Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal and Charlie Wilson’s War, to name but a few.
In truth, it is a resume which has left a whole generation of actors in awe. What Hanks can deliver is a range of performances that all end in the same way: big bucks at the box office. Having enjoyed over four flourishing decades in the industry, Hanks has consistently provided audiences with compelling characters and stories. It’s a gift that the actor saw in himself from a young age, once penning a pre-fame letter to a producer, confident in his ability to become a global star.
While Hanks has featured in so many blockbuster hits throughout his career, that does not necessarily mean that he is impervious to a box office flop or two. However, while a given film might not make good on its budget, that doesn’t mean that it can’t still be of personal benefit to its actors.
And that’s certainly what happened with Hanks and the 2012 science fiction epic Cloud Atlas, directed by the Wachowskis and Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer. It’s based on David Mitchell’s 2004 novel of the same name and features several different plots from different ages in time.
The actors in Cloud Atlas, including Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving and Hugh Grant, all played a number of different roles across hundreds of years of time. But unfortunately, the critical reception to the film was largely mixed, leading to a box office lower than its rather expensive budget.
Despite the poor sales of the film, it looks to have had a significant impact on Hanks, who once told The Guardian, “Like, I made a movie that altered my entire consciousness – Cloud Atlas – I thought, jeez, this thing is so fab; it’s the only movie I’ve been in that I’ve seen more than twice. And it didn’t do any business. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Hanks also once suggested that Cloud Atlas was nothing but a labour of love for all involved in the project, so the fact that it was something of a box office flop didn’t necessarily matter. When appearing on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Hanks further expressed his joy at being able to work on the film.
“We shot Cloud Atlas on a hope and a dream and nothing but a circle of love,” he said. “That was the first time I’d ever shot extensively in Germany, and I was surrounded by history. But the work itself, we were part of this big, massive ensemble of fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on a deep throw… that whole movie was such a deep throw that making it was magical.”
It’s fair to say then that perhaps not everything Hanks has ever created has reached the heights it could. Cloud Atlas proved too difficult to sell at the box office for a number of reasons. With an estimated budget of $146million and a box office taking of $130m, it wasn’t the worst movie ever made, but it certainly didn’t deliver what was expected. But while the picture might not have found fame, it certainly landed heavily for Hanks himself.
