Tom Hanks is set to play Captain Sullenberger in a new biopic about the heroic pilot.

The 58-year-old actor is in talks with famous 'American Sniper' director and Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, 85, to star in the new movie about the hero who performed the 'Miracle on the Hudson', which saw him land a commercial passenger plane on the Hudson River in 2009.

Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger averted tragedy when he made an un-powered crash landing on the strip of water in New York after the plane's engines were hit by a flock of geese, saving all 155 passengers on board.

Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeffrey Zaslow retold the epic story in their book 'Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters' and Eastwood has adapted it for a movie.

Captain Sullenberger, 64 - who retired in 2010 and now campaigns for flight safety - is looking forward to seeing the film, saying: ''I am very glad my story is in the hands of gifted storyteller and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, and veteran producers Allyn Stewart and Frank Marshall.

''The project could not have found a better home than Warner Bros. Pictures. This is truly a dream team.''