Tom Hanks could play the president in upcoming action movie

Tom Hanks could be competing with Liam Neeson in the fiftysomething action hero stakes if producer Kevin Walsh has his way, as he's been offered the lead in political thriller Patriot Down .

The snappy concept sees the film open with Air Force One being gunned down over Pakistan, leaving the on-the-run president to fend for himself.

It surprising that in his decades-spanning career, the Hankster has never played a president, as he seems ideally suited to it, with the right mix of humility and authority, and the ability to take worldwide fame in his stride.

He also showed an aptitude for survival skills in Cast Away , but it'd be brilliant to see him going into full-on middle-aged badass mode.

That said, Hanks must be consistently inundated with offers, so we're still classifying this one as a possibility rather than a certainly.

Hanks will next be seen in Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close .

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.