Tom Hanks clearly has a thing for working on films adapted from Dave Eggers’ books – he’s already part of Tom Tykwer’s upcoming A Hologram For The King. And the actor/producer is now teaming up with The Spectacular Now writer James Ponsoldt for another Eggers tome, The Circle.
In a somewhat topical tale, The Circle follows a young woman hired to work for the titular internet megacorp. The idea behind the company is uniting users email, social media, banking and online shopping in its universal operating system as one identity, with this leading to a new age of transparency and civility. But of course, it’s not that simple – and the story becomes a thriller that exploits the dangers of a digital life where all personal data is collected and pervasive surveillance means that privacy is a thing of the past.
Ponsoldt, who also wrote and directed Smashed, is back on double duty for this one, which doesn’t yet have a studio home, but is expected to land somewhere following what should be a brisk bidding war.
Hanks will next be seen in Hologram For The King, Ithaca and Steven Spielberg’s new, untitled Cold War thriller, none of which have a UK release date yet.