After this year’s excellent documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, you might think there’s no need for a biopic on Mr. Rogers, just as there was no need for On the Basis of Sex after RBG. And you might very well be right if Sony’s film didn’t star Tom Hanks an if he didn’t look spot-on as the beloved host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The only thing wrong with it was the limp title, You Are My Friend, but thankfully that has now been fixed.
Sony has retitled the biopic A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, taken from a line in the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood theme which Rogers would sing at the start of every show. It’s a smart move as anybody who grew up with the children’s show will instantly be familiar. That tactic worked for the doc, which went on to be the highest-grossing biographical doc ever with $22M.
The film will be directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and follows the real-life friendship between Rogers and cynical journalist Tom Junod, played by The Americans’ Matthew Rhys. Junod sees his entire worldview changed by Rogers while interviewing him for a profile piece. Get ready to have your heart warmed, folks. Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni, and Maryann Plunkett co-star.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood opens October 18th 2019.
