Who doesn’t love Mr. Rogers? If you just put up your hand… get out.
I had a really sad thought while looking for more info to include in this article: The final episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood aired in 2001. That means there’s an entire generation of new adults who just didn’t have new episodes as part of their childhoods.
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…I feel old.
I mean, a lot of PBS stations still air reruns and most four-year-olds don’t know the difference, but it’s just not the same.
For whatever reason, Mr. Rogers is having a bit of a renaissance right now.
Perhaps it’s that 2018 marked the 15th anniversary of his death in 2003.
Whatever the reason, the 2018 documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? became the highest grossing biographical documentary of all time.
Which is understandable, because it’s a great doc and total tearjerker.
I’m not sure how the work on the documentary overlapped with the start of production on a Hollywood biopic, but it’s certainly serendipitous!
And when it was announced that America’s dad Tom Hanks was going to be playing Mr. Rogers, it was perfect!
Okay, I’ll admit that when the news first came out, I was a bit torn. On one hand, I can’t imagine anyone else, but on the other hand, Hanks has played a lot of real life good guys lately.
Of the top of my head, he’s been Captain Richard Phillips ( Captain Phillips ), Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger ( Sully ), and even Walt Disney ( Saving Mr. Banks ).
But all my worries were quashed when Sony released the first photo of Hanks in costume last September.
Like, he’s not even in character! He’s reading the script in his trailer, but he just radiates Mr. Rogers’ goodness.
As the movie grows nearer, we’re finally getting more info.
In December 2018, the movie finally got a title : A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . Which is both obvious and perfect for it.
Then in February, we finally got a pic from the movie itself!
The pic shows Hanks and co-star Matthew Rhys on the set of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood . The tweet also confirms the release day of November 22, 2019, which is the same day Frozen 2 is scheduled for.
That should be a fun box office face off.
But what we’ve really been waiting to see is Hanks performing part of the classic show opening.
Whether it was buttoning a cardigan or tying his shoes, we wanted it and finally on Fred Rogers’ birthday, Sony gave us this single frame of perfection.
I’m going to ugly cry through this entire movie, aren’t it?
