Tom Hanks on failed talks for ‘Forest Gump’ sequel
Over the past three decades, Tom Hanks has enjoyed the dizzy heights of fame as one of Hollywood’s most cherished living actors. After several smaller titles and supporting roles earlier in the 1980s, Hanks broke through in 1988 with Big, a fantasy comedy directed by Penny Marsh. As the 1990s dawned, Hanks found himself cast in blockbusting lead roles as he eyed early success at the Academy Awards.
An appearance in Philadelphia opposite Denzel Washington in 1993 and the following year, Forrest Gump saw the Californian actor win his only two Academy Awards to date, both for ‘Best Actor’. This career peak saw Hanks become only the second actor, behind Spencer Tracy, to have won two consecutive ‘Best Actor’ Oscars.
Although Hanks has since maintained a career positively littered with acclaimed blockbusters, few can argue that 1993-94 was his most crucial zenith. Forrest Gump was a particular success both financially and critically. Based on Winston Groom’s 1986 novel of the same name, Robert Zemeckis helmed the picture to a total of six Oscars and $678million worldwide.
Having created the highest-grossing movie of 1994, the temptation to follow up Forrest Gump with a sequel was understandably strong. During his guest appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2022, Hanks revealed that he and the movie’s creators had, in fact, humoured the idea of Forrest Gump 2, if only for 40 minutes.
“I will say that, with a long time in between, we did take a stab at talking about another ‘Forrest Gump’ that lasted all of 40 minutes,” Hanks recalled. “And then we never… we said, ‘Guys, come on.'”
Thankfully, the team saw no sense in contriving a second chapter to what was a satisfactory story based on the original novel. Continuing in the podcast, Hanks revealed why his career has been notably dignified and void of pointless sequels.
“A smart thing I did is I’ve never signed a contract that had a contractual obligation to a sequel,” Hanks revealed. “I’ve always said, ‘Guys, if there’s a reason to do it, let’s do it. But you guys can’t force me.’ There is that natural inclination that is one of pure commerce that says, ‘Hey, you just had a hit, so do it again, and you’ll have a hit.'”
Watch the trailer for Forrest Gump below.
