If you managed to catch the wonderful documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? last year, you’ll have a fresh sense of just how indelible Fred Rogers’ legacy is. Just the opening notes of his show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood are enough to induce tears, let alone actually seeing Rogers in his iconic colorful sweaters, or tossing his shoe.
The magic persists even in recreation: The first moments of the trailer for Marielle Heller’s Fred Rogers drama, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, which stars America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks as Rogers, show Hanks performing the opening of the show. Though Hanks may not look all that much like the man he’s portraying, he’s similarly universally beloved, and has Rogers’ benevolent energy down pat.
The film is based on journalist Tom Junod’s experience profiling Rogers, which he describes as having changed his perspective on life. For the film, he’s been renamed Lloyd Vogel, and is played by The Americans’ Matthew Rhys. Vogel is initially skeptical about the assignment, believing that nobody could really be as wonderful as Rogers seems to be — but, of course, the impossible turns out to be true.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is set to hit theaters on Nov. 22.
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