The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

A Novel

By: Tom Hanks

Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, Ego Nwodim, Nasim Pedrad, Connor Ratliff, Holland Taylor, Rita Wilson, full cast

Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

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 wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.

"Wild, ambitious and exceptionally enjoyable."—Matt Haig, best-selling author The Midnight Library, The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive

Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning 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 drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero.

Cut to the 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 extremely difficult male star, his wonderful 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 created by Tom Hanks himself—including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel’s "major motion picture masterpiece."

*Includes a downloadable PDF of the comics from the book and a QR code for access to the original screenplay of Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Tom Hanks (P) 2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is its own universe, complete with a sun, a cast of circling planets, and a limitless number of stars. Its gravity pulls you in and its far reaching, multi-layered, rollicking exuberance holds you in place. I would have been happy to live inside this book forever." —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These Precious Days

"This is a wild, ambitious and exceptionally enjoyable novel. A story about how stories happen, with a swirling kaleidoscope of characters across the best part of a century, and a real beating emotional heart. It has a lot of astute and fascinating things to say about comic books, movies, show business, America and human beings. I loved every page." —Matt Haig; author The Midnight Library, The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive

"An extravagant, buoyant, joyfully sprawling book, bursting with affection for its characters, for the intricate lore of the movie business, and for the many ways in which human beings are one another's greatest opportunity." —Tana French, award-winning novelist of In The Woods and The Searcher

I could never stay married to an actor,

Maybe not even Tom Hanks,
But he does know how to tell a story.

My favorite thing, is the way he ends with the beginning. That’s where the love resides for me.

And all that hubbub and clamor in between, the blur- was a great ride through endlessly fascinating production details and modern technology put to its best uses.
Also, if not for Tom Hanks writing and narration, I would not have been interested in such a title. But he’s never let me down before and hasn’t this time. What a gift.

Exceptional - just as Tom Hanks is!

I'm not sure why I was surprised this was such a superb story. Tom Hanks has been a consistently superb actor, producer, narrator. I only hope this book is adapted to "another major motion picture" as well. Love the narration, characters were well developed. Like the characters he's played, it was easy to get attached to the characters.

Creative realistic fiction!

Such a cool idea to set this up the way he did! I enjoyed the various sections and the way Hanks wove the storylines together. Very cool to get a glance into the movie making process by way of these characters too.

Great story!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The characters were very interesting and the weaving of the character’s stories was a masterpiece! The narrators added to the complexity and depth of the story lines. I highly recommend this book for everyone.

Great Story and Narrative

Truly enjoyable insight into the art of movie making especially as the story moves along.

I shouldn’t have been surprised!

Tom Hanks is a national treasure and his book is simply incredible. Thanks Tom for an amazing experience. At times, I felt like part of the cast & crew!

So much fun to listen to!

I totally enjoyed this book -- and I'm glad I chose to listen to this instead of reading it. The cast was terrific , and, of course, Tom Hanks is a pleasure to listen to. The perfect book to start the summer book season. 15 hours and I was sorry it was ending.

This book does not disappoint!

I loved the story line and the connection of characters. Tom Hanks is a wonderful actor and also , it turns out, a wonderful writer!

Brilliant!

So funny, engaging, endearing and beautifully narrated! I’m so sad that it is over! Don’t hesitate!

Slow start, but then didn’t want it to end

For me, the slow start was mostly about incorrectly thinking this would be Tom Hanks talking about his own experiences on movies, but once I realized it was fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely a great reason to listen to the audiobook too, since Hanks and cast are spectacular in their tale spinning. I particularly enjoyed his ability as a writer to round out the characters with realistic backstories… something I’m guessing he’s been doing for years with his movie roles. As someone who’s worked in movies, I may have a heightened interest in the subject matter, but I highly recommended if you’re a fan of movies and how they’re made.