Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was already considered a hero for his miraculous emergency landing of a commercial airliner on the Hudson River when a large flock of birds flew into the engine. By successfully landing the plane on the Hudson, Sullenberger saved the lives of 155 passengers and crew.

As if Sullenberger wasn’t already lauded as a hero for his actions, appearing on numerous morning talk shows and news programs to tell his story, the now-retired airline captain is being played by Tom Hanks in a big-budget Hollywood movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

Check out the trailer for Sully:

What looks intriguing about this movie, judging from the trailer, is the story that hasn’t necessarily been told — or one that hasn’t received as much public attention, at least. A story that was solely about US Airways Flight 1549 or the day of Jan. 15, 2009 might not have been compelling over two hours. (Even if part of the story covered how Twitter was such a factor in relaying news of what happened and on-site testimonials. Will Todd Komarnicki’s script touch on that at all? Eastwood might not be the right director for that angle.)

While Sullenberger was viewed as a hero publicly, he was heavily scrutinized by airline and government officials behind the scenes. Naturally, a pilot would fall under suspicion for something going wrong on a flight that required an emergency landing. Did Sullenberger really have to land that airbus on the Hudson River? Could he have gotten the plane back to LaGuardia Airport? And what sort of trauma (or self-doubt) did the pilot have to struggle with in the aftermath of this incident?

Apparently, the Sully story got rather messy and that should make for a far more interesting movie than just propping up Sullenberger as a hero or creating some phony narrative about his entire life leading him up to this point.

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Hanks and Eastwood are Hollywood and Academy Award darlings, so it would not be a surprise to see Sully in position for heavy awards consideration throughout the fall and winter. The rest of the cast, which includes Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney, also looks impressive.

Sully is set for a Sept. 9 release.

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.