In Hollywood history, there are few figures more controversial than Dalton Trumbo - a brilliant screenwriter who found himself blacklisted in the industry due to his ties to the communist party. Because of the nature of the story, it was only a matter of time before it wound up being turned into a movie itself, and now you can watch the debut trailer for it:
Director Jay Roach is best known for his work in the comedy genre, having brought us both the Austin Powers and Meet The Parents trilogies, but Trumbo seems to be far more reflective of his work for HBO - which includes the TV movies Recount and Game Change. In the movie, Bryan Cranston stars as the titular screenwriter, finding him at the top of his career working in Hollywood. Unfortunately, all of this success is cut off at the knees because of the famed House Un-American Activities Committee and the attempt to expose those in major industries and important positions believed to be communist sympathizers. Because he was unwilling to testify against anyone in the film industry, Trumbo found himself both serving time in a federal prison and ultimately blacklisted in Hollywood - but that didn't stop him from working and ultimately scripting one of the greatest epics of all time: Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus.
We've been hearing about this project for a couple of years now, with both Jay Roach and Bryan Cranston becoming involved back in 2013. As you can see in the trailer, however, the time spent developing the project also allowed the assemblage of an absolutely fantastic ensemble - most of whom get their own interesting little moments in this trailer (which comes to us courtesy of Fandango). Playing off of Cranston - who seems to be putting on an interesting, quirky turn playing Trumbo - will be John Goodman, Louis C.K., Helen Mirren, Stephen Root, Diane Lane, Elle Fanning, Alan Tudyk, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Michael Stuhlbarg. At the very least this movie will be enjoyable to watch simply to see all the actors in 1950s mode.
And in case you were curious, that's Dean O'Gorman (The Hobbit) playing Kirk Douglas - and he does have the look for the role:
Screenwriter John McNamara wrote the screenplay for Trumbo, and with the film set for a limited release on November 6th, it's entirely possible that the film could wind up being in the Academy Award conversation for the rest of the year. We'll soon get a sample of the buzz the feature will carry, as it will be making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. Stay tuned for more about movie!
