 In interviews, the real Jim Lovell (qv) had said that he thought  Kevin Costner (qv) looked a little bit like him, but Costner was  never cast. When Brian Grazer (qv) and Imagine Entertainment got  the rights to the script, Ron Howard (qv) signed on to direct and  knowing that Tom Hanks (qv) was an Apollo/space buff, sent the  script to him. They set a meeting and Hanks agreed to play  Jim Lovell (qv) during Hanks and Howards first meeting about the  film.