Gary Oldman inhabits the role of Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright’s new film, Darkest Hour. The first trailer for Darkest Hour has been released online, offering just a hint of Oldman’s performance as Churchill, one that is already generating award buzz. The extensive makeup and Oldman’s lowered, gruff voice makes the versatile actor almost unrecognizable.
This iteration of the famed Churchill will be hitting screens just after John Lithgow’s great turn as the British Prime Minister on Netflix’s The Crown, a performance to which Lithgow has already collected numerous awards for.
Check out the trailer for Darkest Hour below:
Joe Wright’s most recent movie was the big budget flop Pan and he probably has a lot more riding on Darkest Hour than any of his previous films. He’s best known for his period dramas Atonement, Anna Karenina, and Pride And Prejudice, which have brought in Oscar nominations, critical acclaim and a vast amount of fans.
The official synopsis for Darkest Hour reads:
“Within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: Exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty, and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.”
You can also check out the first poster for Darkest Hour (via Focus Features), below.
Darkest Hour co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn and is set to open in theaters on November 22, but it will most certainly be hitting the festival circuit with a possible world premiere at TIFF in September.
Images: Focus Features
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