Sully (also known as Sully: Miracle on the Hudson) is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Todd Komarnicki, based on the 2009 autobiography Highest Duty by Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles. Tom Hanks stars as Sullenberger, with Aaron Eckhart as Jeffrey Skiles, and co-stars Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, and Jamey Sheridan.
The film follows "Sully" Sullenberger's 2009 emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, in which all 155 passengers and crew survived, and the subsequent publicity and investigation.
Sully premiered at the 43rd Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 9, 2016, in conventional and IMAX theaters. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed over $240 million worldwide, but created controversy with its fictionalized portrayal of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as "prosecutorial and closed-minded." The American Film Institute and National Board of Review each selected it as one of their ten best films of 2016, and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing at the 89th Academy Awards.
Plot
On January 15, 2009, captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and first officer Jeff Skiles take off in US Airways Flight 1549 from LaGuardia Airport. During climbout, the Airbus A320 strikes a flock of birds, damaging both engines. Without much time to think, they judge themselves as unable to reach nearby airports (Teterboro Airport being the closest), and Sully ditches the disabled plane onto the icy waters of the Hudson River.
Although some people suffer mild injuries, all 155 crew and passengers survive and evacuate successfully. Sully is heralded as a hero by the public and media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill. However, he experiences aftereffects, and finds himself unable to escape the attention of the press, which is targeting not only him but also his family.
Still in New York City for investigation reasons, Sully learns that preliminary data from ACARS suggest that the left engine was still running at idle power. Theoretically, it still had enough power to land the plane at either LaGuardia or Teterboro. Furthermore, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) claims that several confidential computerized simulations show similar results, even with the engine damage that Sullenberger and Skiles claim occurred. Sully and Jeff firmly insist otherwise, even though the NTSB says its results were confirmed with 20 different simulations. When the NTSB representatives adjourn the meeting, Sullenberger and Skiles discuss their bewilderment.
The NTSB suspects it may be a case of pilot error, which would likely destroy Sully's reputation and career. He arranges to have the simulations rerun with live pilots, then relayed to the public. They result in successful landings. Sully debates that the simulations are unrealistic because they do not take human factors into account, such as the element of surprise, the time required for analysis and decision-making, and the significantly higher stakes he and Jeff faced.
However, the simulation pilots knew in advance of the situation that they would face and of the suggested emergency action, were able to practice the scenario several times—successfully completing the simulation only after 17 previous failed attempts—had no passengers to think about, and were in no personal danger. The NTSB reluctantly accepts his criticism, and the simulations are rerun with a 35-second pause before the plane is diverted. The LaGuardia rerun ends with the plane crash-landing short of the runway, and that to Teterboro with a crash into buildings before it can reach the airport.
After listening to the cockpit voice recorder of the real-life incident, NTSB announces that analysis of the left engine, now recovered from the river, confirms Sully's account that it had indeed been seriously damaged by the bird strike and concludes that Sully had acted correctly in the event. Sully credits everyone on board, the air traffic controllers, the ferry crews, and the emergency response teams for the success. When asked if he would change anything if he did it all over again, Jeff jokes that he would have ditched the plane in July if he were to do it again, much to everyone's amusement.
Cast
Vince Lombardi, the captain of the first ferry to reach the downed plane, appears as himself. Katie Couric also appears as herself. David Letterman appears via archive footage from the night he interviewed the real crew of Flight 1549 who are digitally swapped with their film counterparts.
Actor Shane P. Allen was cast for his likeness as Discovery Channel CEO Billy Campbell. He and eight others were featured in the film, and had their own body doubles for safety.
During the credits, the real Sully and his wife Lorrie give a short speech to the actual passengers who were on the plane.
Production Development The film is based on Sully's autobiography Highest Duty, the rights to which were optioned by producers Frank Marshall and Allyn Stewart in 2010. They developed the screenplay with Stewart's partner executive producer Kipp Nelson, hiring screenwriter Todd Komarnicki. From the start, Sullenberger wanted the film to encompass "that sense of our common humanity", noting that the incident had taken place shortly after the 2008 Great Recession. He explains: "People were wondering if everything was about self-interest and greed. They were doubting human nature. Then all these people acted together, selflessly, to get something really important done. In a way, I think it gave everyone a chance to have hope, at a time when we all needed it." Komarnicki said the difficulty was not depicting the landing in the river, but the investigation afterwards: "It wasn't really a challenge of what to do with the event since that is the thing everyone knows about, it was more about how you parse out the information about the man slowly falling apart and becoming a hero in the eyes of the world when internally and with the investigators it was actually seemingly going the other way."
Casting By June 2015, it was reported that Tom Hanks was already in talks to play the lead role of Sullenberger. Much of the rest of the cast was announced in August (with Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Holt McCallany, and Jamey Sheridan joining), September (Jerry Ferarra), and October (Max Adler, Sam Huntington, and Wayne Bastrup).
Filming Principal photography on the film began on September 28, 2015, in New York City. On October 15, filming started in Atlanta, where a building in downtown Atlanta was transformed into a New York hotel. Most of the film's budget was spent in Los Angeles, where the crash sequence and water evacuation scenes were filmed at Warner Bros. Studios and Universal Studios Hollywood. Filming also took place in North Carolina; Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; and Kearny, New Jersey and concluded on November 25, 2015. The film was shot almost entirely with Arri Alexa IMAX cameras. The film was initially going to be framed for IMAX 1.90:1 and protected for 2.39:1, but by the second day of filming, Eastwood said that they were shooting a movie in IMAX and decided to frame for IMAX. However, the film was released in 2.39 in standard theaters and 1.90 in IMAX. The aviation mock-up/props and effects were supplied by Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects. They used three retired decommissioned airplanes (Aircraft Mock-up/Props) during the making of the film.Local company bringing Hollywood magic to Las Vegas with plane and helicopter sets – by David Schuman, https://www.ktnv.com/news/local-company-bringing-hollywood-magic-to-las-vegas-with-plane-and-helicopter-sets
Release Sully premiered at the 43rd Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2016, and was released in the United States in conventional and IMAX theaters on September 9 by Warner Bros. Pictures. When deciding when to release the film, Warner Bros. executives had begun circling the first weekend after Labor Day, considering that most adult fall dramas do not begin opening until September or October. However, this meant that the release coincided with the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which made executives wary as the film contains a dream sequence in which the plane crashes into Manhattan skyscrapers. But Warner Bros. domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein and his team nevertheless decided to release at that time because "Sully is a story of hope and a real hero who did his job." However, according to Komarnicki, the release date was coincidental rather than planned, and he attributed it to box-office logistics, principally the limited availability of IMAX screens during the summer and at Christmas time.
Home media Sully was released by Warner Home Video on Digital HD on December 6, 2016, with a subsequent Blu-ray, DVD release on December 20, 2016.
Despite being shot, almost entirely, with IMAX cameras and released in IMAX theaters in the 1.90:1 aspect ratio, the home media release did not include the film in that aspect ratio, instead including a cropped 2.39:1 aspect ratio that was used for non-IMAX screenings.
Screening on airplanes Several major airlines, including American Airlines and British Airways, did not include the movie in their onboard entertainment, since it could upset viewers. Virgin Atlantic allowed it, "to celebrate the fantastic skills, training and dedication of airline pilots".
Reception Box office Sully grossed $125.1 million in the United States and Canada and $115.7 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $240.8 million, against a production budget of $60 million. It broke the September record for biggest global IMAX opening for a 2D film with $5.1 million from 523 IMAX screens, eclipsing the previous record held by The Maze Runner ($4.2 million in 2014). In total it had grossed $10 million in IMAX plays globally.
United States and Canada In the United States and Canada, Sully was released on Friday, September 9, 2016, across 3,525 theaters, of which 375 were in IMAX, and was initially projected to make $25 million on its opening weekend, with Box Office Mojo projecting $31 million due to its large theater count and positioning. Box office trackers were expecting Sully to launch in the same range as Hanks's 2013 hostage drama Captain Phillips, which opened with $25.7 million, and the 2012 airline drama Flight at $24.9 million. The weekend after Labor Day has historically been a lackluster period for film revenues, although Deadline Hollywood noted that this doesn't apply to the "more intriguing titles". Sully was one of four wide releases of that weekend. According to ticket-selling Web site Fandango, it outsold Hanks' previous film, Bridge of Spies in advance ticket sales. It earned $1.35 million from Thursday previews at 2,700 theaters, which marked the biggest of Hanks's career, and was considered strong by Box Office Mojo given that it coincided with the first NFL game of the season.