The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A novel

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in American culture since World War II.

"Wild, ambitious and exceptionally enjoyable." —Matt Haig, bestselling author The Midnight Library

Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, haunted from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for twenty-three years.

Cut to 1970: The nephew, now creating underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering a comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero. 

Cut to present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie.

Cue the cast: We meet the film’s egotistical male star, the driven leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.

Bonus material: Interspersed throughout are three comic books that are featured in the story—all written by Tom Hanks himself—including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel’s "major motion picture masterpiece."

About the Author

TOM HANKS has been a professional actor since 1977. He appeared on television in 1980 in Bosom Buddies, and in films beginning with Splash in 1984, and on Broadway in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy. His listed credits on the IMDb shows, well, a ton of work since he joined the Screen Actors Guild (with borrowed money). For an idea of the depth of his career, consider that the New York City bank where he once was down to his last twenty-seven dollars is now a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant. With his partner at Playtone, Garry Goetzman, he has produced many films, documentaries, and television shows. He has written screenplays for films and television. His collection of short stories, Uncommon Type, was published by Knopf in 2017. Hanks turned 66 years old on July 9, 2022.

R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist and an author based in New York City. His illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.