The Tom Hanks Wright Brothers Miniseries Illustrated

In 2015, Tom Hanks announced plans of producing a miniseries based on an adaptation of David McCullough's book, "The Wright Brothers", to air on HBO. Wilbur and Orville Wright's story would be presented from their early childhood, to bicycle manufacturers, to their world fame as conquerors of the air.  More than ten years have passed, but the wait has been worth it, as now with great pride, exclusive inside previews of this historic documentary have been solely granted to Getting The Story Wright, and will now be shared with the reading audience. (1)

 

Tom Hanks and HBO proudly presents..... (initial scenes as credits role)

 

It is early September in Dayton Ohio, the year of 1900. A close up of a man's hand with pen, writing a letter. Dipping the pen into the inkwell, and inscribing a message. Stopping briefly, as he looks up and out through the living room window sees his brother Orville ride by on a bicycle.

 

 

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. 

 

The scene follows Orville as he rides north on Williams Street towards the Wright Cycle Shop. Small children play about the sidewalks, horse and carriages and motor cars share the streets. Orville reaches West Third, but waits for cross traffic, balancing in place on his bicycle, shifting the front wheel back and forth while both feet remain on the pedals, the cycle remaining at the curb and upright. Two pedestrians nearby observe Orville's balancing, and one asks the other.........

 

 

 

Orville Wright, the man with one red shoe, on West Third Street, Dayton.

 

 

We hear Wilbur's voice dictating the words as he pens a note to his father, "I am intending to start in a few days for a trip to the coast of North Carolina in the vicinity of Roanoke Island, for the purpose of making some experiments with a flying machine. It is my belief that flight is possible...I don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'll be alright....." An amazing music score by Billy Joel begins to play, as "The Wright Brothers" Mini-series is announced.

 

 

 

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS...............our story begins at the Dayton Fairgrounds. Wilbur Wright's research pays off.....

 

 

 

Wilbur learns that Kitty Hawk, North Carolina is a great place to test their glider.

 

  

Scenes of Wilbur preparing to travel on a train. The conductor calls out, "All Aboard! All Aboard!" And saying to Wilbur,  "Well, you coming? Sounds like this is your crucial year. If I were you, I would think about climbing on board." 

 

 

 

Union Station, Dayton, Ohio. 

 

 

Having traveled east by train, and now awaiting a boat, Wilbur again takes pen in hand.
"I am at this place waiting for a boat to take me across Albemarle Sound to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, which will be my address at present...."

The scene opens with a small boat with two occupants. A rather heavyset salty old sea dog of a man, and a lone rather uncomfortable passenger, Wilbur Wright.

Fat Jack- "What's the matter? You look a little nervous."

Wilbur- "The boat is smaller than I anticipated. My swimming skills, I fear, are not up to sufficient standards for these waters."
(Wilbur is distracted for a moment, as he stares at a volley ball floating by with an odd painted face.) 

Fat Jack- responding to Wilbur's nervousness........

 

 

 

Wilbur Wright about to cast away to Kitty Hawk by means of Fat Jacks skiff.

 

The boat creaks to a halt, bobbing in the waves.
Wilbur- "What's the matter?"
Fat Jack- "I guess when I rocked the boat I must of got a little water in the engine. I can fix it, I'm mechanical."
At this point, Wilbur smiles when he realizes Mr. Fat Jack perhaps shares his brother Orville and his mechanical interests and skills. Fat Jack picks up a hammer from the bottom of the boat, and begins to pound dents into the boat engine.

Camera shot of hammer pounding engine transitions to hammer pounding nails into tar paper covering the roof of the small hangar and living quarters of Wilbur and Orville on the sands of Kill Devil Hills. An historic hurricane has hit Kitty Hawk, as Orville struggles to steady the hammer in the 80 mph winds, driving rain, and blowing sand. 

 

 

Wilbur begins to silently question if he wasted a quarter at the Fairgrounds.

 

 

The rain eventually subsides. Just as the brothers think perhaps this vast wilderness of sand, wind, and isolation isn't so bad, the camera pans the horizon as a dark cloud grows larger and larger, and the buzzing of mosquitos grows louder and louder......

 

 

 

Wilbur and Orville would often take opposite sides on an issue and debate it for hours.....

 

 

The cameras pan the landscape to some distant activity on the beach. Taking a break, the Brothers stroll along the shoreline of the Atlantic. They come upon several men carrying some crates.
Orville- "What is it you have there?"
Walter Kornbluth- "What? Why? Why do you ask?? I knew it! You're here to spy on me!" 

Wilbur- "No, really, we're just here to experiment......."
Kornbluth- (Interrupting) "I suppose you're just some harmless beachcombers who happen to wear tuxedos!
Other two men- (Chuckling, snickers, making faces.)
Orville- "Yes, we've built a glider and intend to glide down that large sand dune over there.
All three men- (Doubling over with laughter.) "Going to fly over the sand dunes are they? Haaaaahhhh! Snort snort, haaaaaaahhhaaa"

 

 

Wilbur and Orville making a splash with Walter Kornbluth.

 

Mermaid fins are seen in the waters just beyond the shoreline, and to the sound of an engine popping and propellers chopping, the scene changes to a cold December day in 1903, with Orville making the first 12 second flight of 120 feet. 

Witnesses cheer Orville on, as Wilbur runs along side the aeroplane. The men are yelling.....

 

 

Wilbur breaking loose from leg braces at Kitty Hawk, as Orville shouts, "Catch me if you can!"

 

 

Those 12 seconds pass by slowly, as Wilbur's heart beat grows louder and louder, close up of men cheering in slow motion, close up of Orville's face as he rides the wild beast, and then to Wilbur's face, and then to Wilbur's thoughts of the future, of the advancement of flight, the conquering of the skies, and eventually of outer space. Wilbur imagines himself in a spacecraft heading for the moon, the Apollo 13 mission.......

 

Wilbur forgot to bring his spacesuit, and calls Houston to report.

 

 

Wilbur is suddenly snapped back to reality, as Orville lands the Flyer. Wilbur takes a turn with similar results. Then Orville, and then Wilbur with the longest flight of 852 feet, 59 seconds. After these flights, a sudden gust of wind picks up the Flyer and begins to flip it. One of the five witnesses, John Daniels, jumps and grabs a strut, and is carried away with the aeroplane, as it rolls over and breaks apart, Daniels screaming as wires break and wood splinters and fabric tears. There would be no more flights that day.- Orville (whispering to Wilbur) .................

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brothers pack the Flyer up and head back to Dayton in time for Christmas with the family. As the happy times are shared with their father Milton, their sister Katharine, and their brother Lorin's family, the winter snows eventually yield to the Spring's arrival. The scene changes to a cow pasture 8 miles east of Dayton,  Huffman Prairie. 

Camera shot is from Orville's perspective, as he is manipulating the controls, flying the machine at Huffman Prairie, it begins to wobble and suddenly dives toward the ground. Orville loses control of the elevator and the craft smashes to earth, head first, at a speed of 30 miles per hour. What is left of the Flyer bounces three times down the field, upending on the front edges, catapulting Orville out of the cradle and through a broken section of the top wing. Charlie Taylor's whole body jerks and jumps slightly in the air upon seeing this (in classic Belushi style). Wilbur runs to Orville's aid.....

 

 

Huffman Prairie, 1905. Charlie Taylor (played by Jim Belushi), is concerned for Orville's welfare.

 

 

With further experimentation, the Flyer behaves, and by October of 1905, the Brothers have the world's first practical flying machine, the Wright Flyer III. Their father is seen writing in his diary, "Orville flew in 33 minutes and 20 seconds 21 miles.....I saw Wilbur fly 24 miles in 38 minutes and four seconds..."  With pride for their nation, they send off a proposal to the US Government.

 

 

You've got mail!

 

 

If America didn't want the Flyer, the Wrights would offer their machine to the world. It took that option to gain the attention of the US. The years 1908 and 1909 fill the miniseries with some of the most exciting entertainment yet.

 

Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine, World Celebrities.

 

An incredible celebration on Main Street in Dayton, Ohio, 1909 as the Wright's home town welcomes the Brothers back from their successful flights across the ocean. Scenes of the parade, presentation of gold metals, and the fireworks that evening bring the excitement of those days to the viewer's of this miniseries.

 

 

 

 

 

Later that year, Wilbur arrives in New York City during the Hudson Fulton Celebration. He makes his amazing flight over the Hudson river and around the Statue of Liberty while millions of New Yorkers witness the incredible event in awe.

 

 

 

No longer sleepless in Seattle, a couple observes Wilbur Wright circling the Statue of Liberty.

 

Turning the pages of the script through a number of scenes, the story takes a sad turn...

Very emotional scene of Wilbur fighting Typhoid fever in May of 1912. Difficult time for the family, and Orville and Katharine are hit hard by the loss.

Then, one chilly March morning of 1913 after days of heavy rain, the streets of Dayton are flooded this time not with its citizens celebrating the Wright's accomplishments, but with raging water as the levies can no longer hold back the rising rivers. Major cool special effects and an even more amazing musical score, the City is flooded and on fire, Orville and Katharine fight to escape the rising flood waters. An unexpected plot twist occurs when Katharine (played by Daryl Hannah) is initially overcome and pulled under by  the waters, but then miraculously bursts upward from the depths with amazing swimming abilities, and rescues thousands.  Bishop Wright separated from the family, whereabouts unknown. 

 

Orville, with the only Shrimp boat to survive the storm, is able to save thousands.

 

 

 

As the water rises, the 1903 Wright Flyer is seen submerged under 12' of water and mud. The Wright's home is shown as water floods the first floor level. The glass plate negatives of the Wright's experiments at Kitty Hawk, and the first flight negative is seen as it goes under water stored in the storage shed behind the Wright home. 

 

Though Wilbur is gone, his words are heard through the wind and rain-

" Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. And no one can direct his life entirely as he would choose. And that's all I have to say about that."

Any resemblance of scenes or musical scores within The Wright Brothers  miniseries to those of Splash, Man With One Red Shoe, Forest Gump, Cast Away, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Big, Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, That Thing You Do, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Polar Express, Catch Me if You Can, or Bosom Buddies, is mere coincidence. 

Copyright 2026-Getting the Story Wright

 

For more Wright Brother humor and adventures, see posts:

The Secret Orville Wright Lab Experiments
Great Scott! It's Wilbur Wright back in 1909!
A Journey back in time: An interview with Orville Wright

Orville Wright- The Art Critic 

An alternate time line: The 1905 Wright Flyer III flies again!

What if the Wright Brothers had not experimented in flight in the early 1900's? 

Connecticut, you have Gustave be kidding me!

The Proud State of Connecticut, First in Historical Revisionism!

Index of Topics

 

Notes-

1. Images created by Author using Google AI Gemini tools, and Microsoft Paint.