Tom Hanks is set to return to Apple TV Plus in Finch, a soon-to-debut feature film about a robotics engineer surviving a new post-apocalyptic world with his four-legged companion Goodyear (and a robot).
The heart of Finch’s storyline centers on Hanks’ determination to find a caretaker for Goodyear after his death. The science-fiction drama takes place after a solar flare that devastated life on earth. Finch, the engineer, has been surviving a post-apocalyptic wasteland for a decade in an underground bunker, where he lives with his dog Goodyear — a very good boy and Finch’s only companion after the catastrophic event.
In this underground workspace, Finch develops a robot, Jeff, with whom they’ll embark on a treacherous journey to beat a deadly storm to safety. Along the way, they’ll have to navigate extreme weather phenomena, merciless heat, UV radiation, and other unexpected challenges.
The film arrives as Apple looks to ramp up its original film slate. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, award-winning drama Coda, Mahershala Ali-starring Swan Song, and A24 joints The Tragedy of Macbeth and Sharper are just a handful of titles soon set to debut on the service.
Apple has been laser-focused focused on developing award-winning titles over churning out content on a budget, and Finch is the second Tom Hanks-starring feature film to debut on the service after it acquired Greyhound from Sony last year. But to date, Apple’s original films haven’t had quite the cultural impact enjoyed by its critical darling Ted Lasso, which had a record-breaking number of Emmy nominations this year for a first-season comedy and ultimately, including its Creative Arts Emmy Awards wins, claimed seven awards. Of its 35 total Emmy nominations this year, Apple on Sunday won 11 total Emmys across five titles.
Greyhound was nominated for a bevy of awards, including an academy award for best sound. But Finch will have much broader appeal than a World War II drama. Apple has proven it can win on warm-and-fuzzy mass appeal. Perhaps Finch will finally help Apple TV Plus secure the feature film award wins it’s been gunning for.
Finch will premiere Friday, November 5th on Apple TV Plus.