On the heels of the acclaimed documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, there’s now a fictional film about the life of Fred Rogers, the genial creator and star of the iconic children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. In A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Rogers is played by Tom Hanks, and the film is about his relationship with journalist Tom Junod (The AmericansMatthew Rhys. Watch its first trailer above.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbor.

The film’s recreation of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is very impressive, but I have to say it’s hard looking at Hanks — one of the famous people in history — and pretending he’s Mister Rogers — another of the most famous people in history. It’s tough filtering out the Hanks to see the Rogers (and hearing the Rogers; he had such a distinctive voice and, in his own way, so does Hanks). Hopefully in the finished film the illusion is more convincing. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood opens in theaters on November 22, 2019.

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