The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is the first novel written by famous actor Tom Hanks. The story is about a freelance journalist and film studies professor named Joe Shaw, who narrates a “based-on-a-true-story” tale about the making of a Hollywood blockbuster movie. However, Hanks wants the focus to be on the characters and story, rather than himself as the author.
Hanks creates a large cast of characters, most of whom are likable, and he fully inhabits them with the confident omniscience of an experienced author. The story covers the making of a new comic book action flick, which expands beyond the film industry and into the world of comics. The book contains sections which combine comic strips created by Hanks and artwork from Robert Sikoryak.
The story introduces characters from different eras, including the Golden Age of comics, the underground comics of the 1960s, and the present day, where comics and film seem inextricably linked. An actual World War II flamethrower operator becomes the star of a comic book, which later inspires his artist nephew to create a satiric anti-war homage. When a large company that produces comic books and movies purchases the works of a defunct underground publisher, Firefall is now available for the company to use for their interconnected movie series. This creates the opportunity for the movie at the heart of the novel, a direct-to-streaming side project that is loosely related to a famous superhero franchise.
The protagonist of the story is Bill Johnson, a writer-director who has been labeled a genius by some, but is also considered odd by those who know him well. Hanks writes more than a dozen short stories, each portraying a distinct and fully realized person, from assistant producers to actors, makeup artists, location managers, and others essential to production. These elements come together to create a powerful gust of wind that eventually becomes a storm in a mostly deserted town in Northern California.
The novel also includes watch-the-sausage-being-made moments, where Hanks provides often-humorous insights into various stages of Knightshade’s production, helping readers gain a level of knowledge equivalent to a semester or two of film school. A new movie production showcases a world that is held together by a passion for art and skill, filled with hardworking yet kind people. Even though they started with nothing, many of them achieved unexpected success.
A new movie production showcases a world that is held together by a passion for art and skill, filled with hardworking yet kind people. Even though they started with nothing, many of them achieved unexpected success.
