Greyhound was initially scheduled for theatrical release in the United States on June 12, 2020, bySony Pictures Releasing. The release was delayed indefinitely and then canceled because of widespread disruption and shutdowns from theCOVID-19 pandemic. Sony sold the distribution rights toApple TV+, which released the film digitally on July 10, 2020. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the action sequences and effective use of its 90-minute runtime. At the93rd Academy Awards, the film earned a nomination forBest Sound.
In February 1942, Allied convoyHX-25, consisting of 37 merchant and troop ships en route forLiverpool, enters the "Black Pit", theMid-Atlantic gap, where they will be out of range of protective air cover. The convoy's escort consists of theFletcher-class destroyer USSKeeling (DD-548), radio call sign "Greyhound", captained byCommander Ernest Krause of theUnited States Navy; the BritishTribal-class destroyer HMSJames, call sign "Harry"; the PolishGrom-class destroyer ORPViktor, call sign "Eagle"; and the CanadianFlower-class corvette HMCSDodge,[6] call sign "Dicky". Krause is overall commander of the escort ships but, despite his seniority and extensive naval education, it is his first wartime command; the captains under him have been at war for more than two years.
Three days into the "Black Pit",high-frequency direction finding intercepts a German transmission and Greyhound detects aU-boat heading towards the convoy. The sub tries to slip under Greyhound, but Krause sinks it withdepth charges. As they return to the convoy, another U-boat bearing an emblem of a grey wolf sinks a Greek merchant ship. Greyhound is also attacked, evading a torpedo, and receives reports of five other U-boats from the other escorts. Thewolfpack is staying just out of firing range, waiting for nightfall when the escorts will have poor visibility.
That evening, the 'grey wolf' U-boattorpedoes an oil tanker and escapes Greyhound by using anunderwater decoy device which deceives the escorts into expending their depth charges. Krause rescues survivors from the tanker before going to aid the other ships, resulting in the loss of another supply ship. The U-boat, identifying itself as "Grey Wolf", taunts the convoy and its escorts via radio transmission. The wolfpack commences attack that night and sinks three more merchant ships.
The next morning, down to just six depth charges, Greyhound joins Dicky and sinks one of the U-boats with combined surface broadsides. Dicky receives minor damage due to the close range, and Greyhound is hit on its port side by the U-boat's deck gun. Mess attendant George Cleveland and two sailors are killed. During their burial service, the Germans sink another Allied ship and badly damage Eagle, which later sinks; Krause allows the crew of Eagle to abandon ship. Although worried about compromising the remaining defenders, Krause chooses to breakradio silence; he orders transmission of a single word "help" to theAdmiralty. A return message is deciphered as "expect aircraft" and "point X-ray", suggesting reinforcements are en route and their rendezvous point shall be modified.
With the convoy nearly in range of friendly air cover, Greyhound battles two U-boats, sinking the "Grey Wolf" with a full broadside. An RAFCatalina appears and Greyhound marks the location of the second U-boat, allowing the flying boat to sink it with depth charges. When contact is lost with the remaining U-boats, HMSDiamond, arrives and relieves Greyhound and the other two destroyers. They are ordered to port for repairs and refitting inDerry. Krause is congratulated personally for the four U-boat kills and men on the convoy ships cheer Greyhound's crew. Krause goes to his cabin, where he finally sleeps.
The film was relatively faithful to the novel. In the novel, Krause is more bitter about life as he was divorced from Evelyn, who had been unfaithful to him. In the film, Evelyn is his girlfriend to whom he proposes marriage, but she postpones. The film invents scenes where a U-boat uses Greyhound's transmitting frequency to broadcast taunting messages over the ship's loudspeakers.[7]
A fictionalized version of theKidd is mentioned in the film as having encountered aan underwater decoy device on its first patrol; the actual USSKidd was not launched until late February 1943. In the studio, sets were created of the bridge and the command center. A gimbal was used to create the effect of crew and furnishings reacting to the ship rolling.[14]
Greyhound was initially scheduled for theatrical release on March 22, 2019 in the United States bySony Pictures Releasing under itsColumbia Pictures label. After the rapid onset and disruption of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the release was delayed to May 8, 2020, and finally to June 12, 2020.[15][16][17]
In May 2020, it was announced thatApple TV+ had acquired distribution rights toGreyhound for about $70 million;Stage 6 Films was left as the sole Sony distributor as of the release of the film.[18] Apple TV+ released the film digitally on July 10, 2020.[19]
Apple said that the film had the biggest debut weekend of any program in the platform's history.Deadline Hollywood said that the figures were "commensurate with a summer theatrical box office big hit".[20] In November,Variety reported the film was the 24th-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.[21]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 228 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Greyhound's characters aren't as robust as its action sequences, but this fast-paced World War II thriller benefits from its efficiently economical approach."[22] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 37 critics.[23]
Owen Gleiberman, in his review forVariety, said the film is "less a drama than a tense and sturdy diary of the logistics of battle" and "though much of the action is set in the open air of the ship's command perch,Greyhound often feels like a submarine thriller: tense, tight, boxed-in".[24] Writing for theChicago Tribune,Michael Phillips gave the film three out of four and said: "Like the canine, [Greyhound is] trim, narrow of scope, and it runs efficiently and well despite a barrage of on-screen time stamps and vessel identification markers".[25]
David Ehrlich ofIndieWire gave the film a "C−" and wrote: "A terse and streamlined dad movie that's shorter than a Sunday afternoon nap and just as exciting,Greyhound bobs across the screen like a nuanced character study that's been entombed in a 2,000-ton iron casket and set adrift over the Atlantic. The film offers a handful of brief hints at the tortured hero who Forester invented for his book ... but the whole thing is far too preoccupied with staying afloat to profile the guy at the helm in any meaningful way."[26]
Warren Shaw,Michael Minkler, Will Digby, Ann Scibelli, Jon Title, Jeff Sawyer, Richard Kitting, Odin Benitez, Jason King,Luke Gibleon and Marko Costanzo
