We at Collider are happy to exclusively debut a new companion piece for the most recent trailer for the upcoming Universal Pictures film News of the World. Based on the book of the same name by Paulette Jiles, the film takes place five years after the end of the Civil War and stars Tom Hanks as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a veteran who now works as a non-fiction storyteller, traveling from town to town to read the news. When he crosses paths with a kidnapped 10-year-old girl named Johanna (Helena Zengel), his mission changes substantially.

“Reading the news gave him a purpose,” Hanks says of his character in the trailer companion piece, adding that the film takes place in an America ravaged by defeat, strife, and anger. “He got up, he collected the stories, he delivered a reading, and then it was on to the next town.” When he crosses paths with Johanna, Kidd is “burdened by his own decency” and sets out to return the young girl to her family, despite the fact that Kidd has no family left himself.

Hanks reunites with his Captain Phillips filmmaker Paul Greengrass on the new movie, which is slightly more sentimental than their harrowingly realistic previous collaboration. “[Kidd’s] real message is, when you have love in your life it will be alright,” says Hanks, noting that that’s essentially what all great stories are.

Check out the video below. News of the World is set to be released in theaters on December 25, 2020.

Here’s the official synopsis for News of the World:

This Christmas, Universal Pictures is proud to present Tom Hanks starring in News of the World, a moving story written and directed by Paul Greengrass, reuniting for the first time with his star from their 2013 Best Picture nominee Captain Phillips.

 

Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.

 

In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will.

 

Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says she belongs. As they travel hundreds of miles into the unforgiving wilderness, the two will face tremendous challenges of both human and natural forces as they search for a place that either can call home.

 

News of the World is directed by Greengrass (the Bourne films, United 93) from his screenplay with Luke Davies (Lion), based on the National Book Award finalist and best-selling novel by Paulette Jiles. The film is produced by Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia! franchise, Greyhound), Gail Mutrux (The Danish Girl, Donnie Brasco) and Gregory Goodman (22 July, 8 Mile). The executive producers are Steven Shareshian and Tore Schmidt. The film’s music is by eight-time Academy Award® nominee James Newton Howard.

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