They were very vague about the film and how the product would be used,”Wallace remembers, “but they said it wouldn’t be used as a weapon or in any way that was damaging to the brand.”

In Cast Away, the volleyball is named Wilson. Now, you’re married to the wonderful Rita Wilson, who I love, I adore, we all do,” Sean said on the podcast. “Was that by design because it could have been called Spalding?” First released in 2000, it follows the story of a man stranded on a desert island and the mental and physical journey he goes on as he tries to survive. He chose to be left on the uninhabited Juan Fernández archipelago near Chile, as he feared the ship he had travelled on was too dangerous to continue the journey. a b Galloway, Stephen (November 30, 2017). "Actor Roundtable: Tom Hanks, James Franco and More on 'Predators Everywhere' and Secrets of 'Legends' ". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018 . Retrieved December 8, 2017.Wolf, Matt (February 26, 2001). " 'Gladiator' Gets 5 British Awards". Topeka Capital-Journal. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017 . Retrieved October 9, 2013. Cast Away movie review and film summary (Roger Ebert), archived from the original on May 10, 2021 , retrieved June 14, 2021 Wallace consulted with Kuehne and Volleyball and Soccer Business Manager, Alan Davenport. It was a more vague request than Wilson usually received, but with the reassurance only Tom Hanks could provide, the team agreed to send Fox what it had asked for… which was actually soccer balls. He was eventually rescued in 1709, four years after his arrival, when a ship came by and took him aboard. It was a representative from 20th Century Fox, one of the most prominent production companies in the world. He explained to Molly that the studio was about to start filming a movie and hoped Wilson could provide some balls to be used in the film.

In today’s world, production companies will sell that brand spot. But one of the purities of Tom Hanks is that, for him, it wasn’t about making money for making the movie, it was about making money because it’s a good movie,” Kuehne explains. Rice, Nicholas (April 16, 2022). "Tom Hanks Brings Out Cast Away Costar Wilson for First Pitch at Cleveland Guardians Game". people.com . Retrieved April 16, 2022. Now here’s where it gets weird: Apparently, a soccer ball washed up on the island where the screenwriter and survivalist were staying. So they threw a hat on it and started talking to it. The marooned ball just so happened to be a Wilson soccer ball, which purportedly inspired the character of Wilson. Other people who experienced life as castaways in various ways and may have provided some inspiration for the film, include Tom Neale, a New Zealand bushcraft and survival enthusiast who spent much of his life in the Cook Islands, and a total of 16 years – in three sessions – living alone on the island of Anchorage in the Suwarrow atoll, which was the basis of his popular autobiography An Island To Oneself; Leendert Hasenbosch who was an employee of the Dutch East India Company marooned on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean as a punishment for sodomy and Narcisse Pelletier, born in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie in the Vendée who was a French sailor. Pelletier was abandoned in 1858 at the age of 14 on the Cape York Peninsula, in Australia, during the dry season. At this point, all Wallace, Davenport, and Kuehne knew was that a one-sided Wilson Volleyball was going to be in a Tom Hanks movie. And that’s all the information they would have for the better part of a year.We provided Fox with 60 balls for the actual production of the movie, and maybe 100 more for promotional use. So all in, we gave them around 150 volleyballs, and we got unprecedented product placement. Talk about the greatest return on investment in the history of Wilson.” Schaefer, Stephen (January 31, 2001). "SAG might shake up Oscar field". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013 . Retrieved October 9, 2013. How Phish Phooled with a Phake Hanks". people.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021 . Retrieved September 23, 2021.