Finch was released on 5 November 2021 and turns 5 this week, so it is a good moment to revisit Tom Hanks’s quiet post-apocalyptic detour. The Apple TV+ film follows an aging engineer who builds and teaches a robot to care for his dog when he dies. A lot of what made the film memorable happened before the first frame: the title changes, the script’s reputation, the actors who were announced but absent, and the numbers that followed.
Three announced cast members were absent in the final film
Samira Wiley was announced as part of the cast in March 2019, followed by Skeet Ulrich and Laura Harrier in May. All three were absent in the released film. The finished film stars Tom Hanks and Caleb Landry Jones.
It began as BIOS and was a Black List script
The project was announced as BIOS on October 26, 2017. In December 2017, it landed on that year’s Black List of most-liked unproduced screenplays. Several major studios were bidding for the rights before Amblin Entertainment purchased the project, with Universal Pictures set to distribute it.
Caleb Landry Jones played the robot through motion capture and voice
Caleb Landry Jones joined the cast in January 2019 in a motion capture and voice role as the robot Finch builds. That robot, Jeff, becomes the companion Finch teaches to care for his dog Goodyear. Tom Hanks plays Finch, the aging survivor.
The shoot stretched across New Mexico and Toronto
Principal photography began in February 2019 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Filming also took place in Santa Fe, Shiprock, Los Lunas, Socorro, and the White Sands National Monument, and ended in May 2019. Scenes involving abandoned buildings, streets and highways were shot in Toronto.
Jeff only downloaded 72 percent of his data
In the story, Finch, Jeff, Dewey and Goodyear set out in a modified Fleetwood motorhome towards San Francisco. Because of the hasty departure, Jeff could download only 72 percent of his encyclopedic data, and his mental capacity requires training.
The release date moved four times before Apple TV+ stepped in
Universal scheduled the film for theaters on October 2, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed to April 16, 2021, then moved to August 13, 2021, and a week later to August 20. In May 2021, the film was retitled from BIOS to Finch and bought by Apple TV+ for a November 5, 2021 release.
1.4 million households watched in the first month
According to Samba TV, Finch was watched in 1.4 million households in its first 30 days of release. That includes 328,500 households over its first two days. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment retained home entertainment and linear television rights after the Apple TV+ sale.
Critics admitted the sentimental ending got them
On Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of 172 critics’ reviews are positive. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said the film could almost have been assembled in a robotics lab from the durable parts of countless movies past, but added, “Darned if I wasn’t misting up in the melancholy climactic scenes.” Variety’s Tomris Laffly called it “big-hearted, comfortingly traditional and bolstered by a genuine love of dogs.”
What is your favourite Finch fact from the making of this robot-and-dog road movie?
Facts from Wikipedia: Finch (film), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.