Striking it rich is part of the American Dream for many people. In his new movie, Matthew McConaughey will apparently live that dream, and then the nightmare that follows. Gold tells the story of a man who finds himself on top of a massive gold deposit in Indonesia. Unfortunately, that's not where the movie has its happy ending. Instead, that's where things go to hell. Check out the first trailer below.
Matthew McConaughey has played desperate, and sleazy, people before, but his role in Gold, as Kenny Wells may be the most desperate he's ever looked. Wells appears to be about as down on his luck as any man can be. And in Reno, that's saying something. However, it looks like his luck is about to change because Wells will somehow find gold in Indonesia, and while that appears to solve many of his existing problems, as money often does, it then causes several new ones.
Of course, when you become rich overnight, you also tend to become really popular. This is what apparently happens to Kenny Wells. His company, Washoe Mining, becomes an overnight sensation, leading many to finally take notice of the guy who had been previously ignored. This is what leads to him making deals by petting tigers for some reason.
Gold was directed by Stephen Gaghan, the director of Syriana and the writer of Traffic. Originally, the movie was going to be directed by Michael Mann, before he left the project and was briefly replaced by Spike Lee. Christian Bale was originally rumored for the lead role before Matthew McConaughey came on board. Bryce Dallas Howard plays the female lead role as Wells' wife.
What's most interesting about the trailer is that it implies that the characters do in fact find a large supply of gold. However, all indications have been that the "true events" that inspired Gold, are those surrounding the Bre-X mining company, who claimed to have found a massive gold deposit in Indonesia, but in fact found nothing of the kind. It appears that the reason that several billion dollars of gold disappeared, is because they were never actually there.
We're certainly interested in learning more about Gold. It looks to have a great cast and a compelling story. With a Christmas release, this one could be looking to be a dark horse during awards season. What do you think of Gold's first look? Let us know in the comments.
