Tom Hanks Will Star in Paramount's MAJOR MATT MASON

Variety reports that Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks will star in "Major Matt Mason," a feature film based on a Mattel action figure from the 1960s, at Paramount PIctures.

Akiva Goldsman pens the script, which is based on a short story by Michael Chabon (famous for novels like "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay")."

Major Matt Mason is an astronaut who lives and works on the moon. The toy's popularity coincided with America's own space race in the '60s, and has a bench of supporting characters like a space crew and alien allies and villains.

Tom Hanks made his professional stage debut portraying Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, OH. He performed in that company for three seasons. Moving to New York City in 1978, he performed with the Riverside Shakespeare Company. His numerous film credits include Splash, Forrest Gump(for which he won an Oscar), Philadelphia (for which he also won an Oscar),Sleepless in Seattle, That Thing You Do! (which he also wrote and directed), Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, Charlie Wilson's War and Cloud Atlas. For television, his credits include the multiple award-winning series "From the Earth to the Moon," "Band of Brothers," "John Adams," "The Pacific" and "Game Change." He will premiere "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," his Mr. Rogers biopic, at TIFF.

Read the original story on Variety.