Tom Hanks Turned Down A Movie That Became A Massive Tom Cruise Hit

Tom Hanks is often compared to James Stewart due to his tendency to take on characters who are deeply sympathetic to everyone, but like Stewart he is also willing to challenge moviegoers by playing conflicted and damaged people. One of his most convincing performances was in Sam Mendes’s Road to Perdition, where he played a ruthless enforcer. He was also amazing in Cast Away and Captain Phillips, two films that made him go through emotional emotions. (His breakdown at the end of the latter is so shocking and emotionally naked that you feel the need to look away.)

Hanks is clearly the type of movie star screenwriters often think of when they sit down and tap away at their laptops. But what happens when you pull off a great script with a lead character tailor-made for the star, and it works? This is a disappointment that only excellent screenwriters would experience, but it happened to Cameron Crowe when he wrote “Jerry Maguire” for Hanks. The screenplay was exciting, and the finished film ended up receiving five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. But while Hanks loved Crowe’s script, he had another iron in the fire around that time called That Thing You Do. This was his opportunity to direct his first feature film. Fortunately for Crowe, he had a backup option in mind when Hanks (i.e. Tom Cruise) turned him down, and it worked out well for him.

In a 2017 interview with Deadline, Crowe said Hanks’ impending involvement in the “Jerry Maguire” film was a result of the star’s desire to re-team with his “senior” producer James L. Brooks. He was also a fan of “Say Anything…”, so Brooks encouraged Crowe to go forward with his screenplay about a sports agent suffering from a crisis of conscience. According to Crowe, “The idea was not to be a slave to writing this as a Tom Hanks movie in all caps, but let’s have Tom Hanks in our minds as the guy who’s going to play Jerry Maguire.”

But as Hanks’ star continued to rise and rise, Crowe found himself wondering what he would do if the leading man backed out of him – although after a meeting between the two in New York City, Hanks seemed ready to direct the film. When Crowe finished the script, he sent it to Hanks, and things went south. For each crew:

“I came home from New York and finished the script. Then he read it, and there was a conversation where he was torn. He wanted to do ‘that thing you do,’ but he was incredibly positive about that script.” […] We had a really great conversation and hung up. Everyone was in Jim’s office, waiting to hear. Was Tom Hanks in or out? I walked in and said I had the best conversation with Tom Hanks. So, in? I say no. Which means Tom Hanks’ elixir was so powerful that I didn’t even realize he died until after I hung up.”

“Jerry Maguire” with Tom Hanks would have been a completely different movie, one that I can’t really imagine. However, Cruise ended up with one of his signature roles, and the film is now recognized as a classic.