Good news for fans of Tom Hanks, or to put it another way, everyone. Saving Mr. Banks will close this year's BFI London Film Festival, filling the Closing Night Gala spot with its European premiere. This is a double hit for the actor, whose Captain Phillips / Paul Greengrass collaboration will also open the Festival this year. Here's a thought: given the buzz on both these films, should the double Oscar-winner worry about splitting his own vote come award season this year?
Saving Mr. Banks is, of course, the story of Walt Disney's long campaign to persuade sceptical author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to grant him the rights to her Mary Poppins character. We know that he finally did, since we've all seen Mary Poppins, but what's much less well-known is that the source of Travers' trepidation - and unhappiness with the final film - was the deeply-felt autobiographical roots of the story, in her own relationship with her father (Colin Farrell).
The film's been surrounded by positive buzz since the word go and all the signs for this are good, so chalk this up as a win for the Festival. The LFF runs from October 9 to October 20 this year, and Saving Mr. Banks (not to be confused with Hanks' other big rescue attempt,** Saving Private Ryan**) will hit screens in the UK this winter.