Tom Hanks Commands a WWII Convoy, Dodges U-Boats in 'Greyhound'

Tom Hanks loved C.S. Forester's 1955 novel "The Good Shepherd" so much that he wrote a screenplay based on the book so he could star in a movie version.

Set in 1942, the movie features Hanks as newly minted U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause, whose first mission is leading a convoy of 37 ships across the Atlantic. This would be a simple task, if not for the wolf packs of Nazi U-boats tasked with sinking every one of those Allied boats.

The trailer just debuted online.

The trailer shows how difficult the mission will be and how treacherous Atlantic crossings were back in the day when ships had to spend days with no radio contact as they traveled the ocean.

Hanks is joined by the always-excellent English actor Stephen Graham (Tony Provenzano in "The Irishman," Al Capone in "Boardwalk Empire"), who appears to portray the destroyer's XO and also seems to be taking on a Southern accent this time around. Elisabeth Shue plays Krause's wife; the movie's director is Aaron Schneider.

Forester's novels have been excellent source material for Hollywood, providing the basis for movies such as "The African Queen" and "Captain Horatio Hornblower, R.N." More recently, his Hornblower novels inspired a series of excellent TV movies in the U.K. back at the turn of the century.

"Greyhound" looks to be the kind of big-budget war movie that studios are hesitant to make these days. Hanks used his considerable clout to get this one made. The movie opens June 12 and gets a 12-day window before "Top Gun: Maverick" lands in theaters. Here's hoping that "Greyhound" lives up to the promise of the trailer.