The 2012 debut novel by Fredrik Backman, A Man Called Ove, is getting another big screen release, this time in English.
A Man Called Ove, the English translation of its original title En man som heter Ove, was an incredible hit. It landed on the New York Times Best Seller List, where it stayed for 42 weeks.
The movie based on the novel will be called A Man Called Otto, with a slight name change for the English language. It has a release date of December 25th, 2022.
It will be starring Tom Hanks playing Otto. Alongside Tom Hanks will be Mariana Treviño, Rachel Keller, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Cameron Britton, and Mike Birbiglia.
It will be directed by Marc Forster, with David Magree writing the screenplay.
This is not the first adaptation of the Fredrik Backman hit novel.
In 2015, A Man Called Ove was released in Sweden. It starred Rolf Lassgard, Bahar Pars, Filib Berg and Ida Engvoll. It was in Swedish and Hannes Holm was the director.
It received multiple nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film. It also won two Guldbagge Awards.
The story is a comedy/drama. Ove is essentially a grumpy old man referred to as “the bitter neighbour from hell”. He lives an isolated life until a young family moves in next door and flatten his mailbox. It is a beautiful story about love, loss, and friendships.
No trailer has been released yet for the movie starring Tom Hanks. Here is a trailer for the Swedish movie based on this great novel by Fredrik Backman: