Tom Hanks interrupted a 'Sully' press conference to praise movie 'La La Land'.

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks

The Hollywood actor was in a Q&A for the Clint Eastwood biographical drama motion picture at the Telluride Film Festival when he suddenly started talking about the Damien Chazelle film, and joked it might upset Warner Bros.

He said: "I like to think we approach movies the same way we approach being members of the audience in that you just want to see something you have never seen before. It's funny. Who saw 'La La Land' yesterday?

"When you see something that is brand new, that you can't imagine, and you think, 'Well thank God this landed,' because I think a movie like 'La La Land' would be anethema to studios. Number one, it is a musical and no one knows the songs."

The star then joked that talking up another motion picture might not impress Warner Bros. bosses, and even praised smaller studios for taking a chance on such projects.

He said: "This is not a movie that falls into some sort of trend. I think it is going to be a test of the broader national audience, because it has none of the things that major studios want. Pre-awareness is a big thing they want, which is why a lot of remakes are going on.

"'La La Land' is not a sequel, nobody knows who the characters are ... but if the audience doesn't go and embrace something as wonderful as this then we are all doomed."

'Sully' director Eastwood also joined in the conversation and wondered how many "turndowns" the film had got before it was financed.