Netflix releases a trailer for one of its biggest movies of the year
See the first trailer for the star-studded The Trial of the Chicago 7
by Samuel RobertsAfter Wonder Woman 1984 was delayed last week, the near-future of theatrically-released movies is looking a little uncertain. In the midst of a strange (and mostly unpleasant) year for new films, Netflix has acquired a number of movies that were once intended for theatrical release but are instead streaming for its subscribers. They include The Lovebirds from earlier this year, next week's Enola Holmes with Millie Bobby Brown, and now The Trial of the Chicago 7 from director Aaron Sorkin (Molly's Game and the scriptwriter of The Social Network).
Netflix has offered a first look trailer for the latter movie, which releases on October 16. It's a star-studded historical docudrama, with an ensemble cast featuring Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Rylance and Michael Keaton among many others.
Check out the trailer below:
The film is based on the infamous 1969 trial that followed a counterculture protest at the Democratic National Convention the year before, as the federal government tried to pin charges of inciting a riot on seven individuals. A violent response from the local police force and government led to the situation escalating as it did. Here's an excellent piece from The Guardian on what the trial represented as a moment in American history.
Sorkin actually wrote the script for The Trial of the Chicago 7 more than a decade ago, and Steven Spielberg was once attached to direct it.
The movie's subject matter is likely to resonate in this of all years, so let's hope it lives up to its potential. Sorkin's last movie, Molly's Game, was a well-written but bloated biopic, and it made it hard to care about its subject. Still, a courtroom drama is well in the wheelhouse of the screenwriter behind A Few Good Men.
Netflix's prestige season
That's just one of the big movies Netflix has coming over the next few months. While some of the newer films are meant for a wide audience, it's like Netflix is treating this as Oscar season – check out our round-up of great-looking films coming to Netflix in the rest of 2020 for more of what's worth getting excited about this year.
While it's a shame the next few months are looking a little quieter for big movies than we hoped, at least we have something to look forward to on the world's biggest streaming service.