Sunday, February 16, 2014








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Sochi Winter Olympics brings first trailer for Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken'

The film is set for Christmas Day 2014
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Calling something "Oscar bait" can be fairly diminishing and suggest that artists don't have a certain purity at heart, but it's not always meant that way. Sometimes it just becomes obvious that an epic narrative that needed to be told on screen could be all lined up for year-end awards, because it has a certain spirit, a certain pedigree. Angelina Jolie's upcoming "Unbroken" is one such film, and Universal Pictures smartly tapped the on-going Sochi Winter Olympics to tease out a little bit of footage from the film, which only recently wrapped in Australia.

The film will tell the incredible true story of Olympian-turned-WWII POW Louis Zamperini and was a project that many filmmakers considered before Jolie stepped up to the plate to will it into being. An adaptation of Zamperini's book, the script alone is packed with Oscar-winning and -nominated writers, from the Coen brothers to Richard LaGravenese ("The Fisher King") to William Nicholson ("Gladiator," "Shadowlands").

Of course, sometimes these films don't pan out as awards season players. There's a long line of such aspirants, the fall of more than a few probably owed, in part, to early speculation such as this. But ask anyone with a passing interest in this which film looks like a potential Oscar hound a year in advance, "Unbroken" is sure to be top of mind.

Get a load of some footage from the film, featuring Roger Deakins' as-ever sterling photography, in the special Olympics clip.



EW
By on Feb 16, 2014 at 10:02PM
It makes sense that Angelina Jolie’s film Unbroken would unveil its first extended trailer during the Olympics. After all, the true-life protagonist of the film, Louis Zamperini, was an Olympic track star — before he joined the Air Force, crashed into the Pacific, and, well, experienced just a whole assortment of things. Whether or not you read the bestselling Laura Hillenbrand book, it’s a thrill to watch the video, which mixes clips from the film with an interview with Zamperini himself. Check it out.











From the looks of this, Unbroken won’t scrub clean Zamperini’s earlier life, which, as the man himself admits, saw him as a “rotten” teenager. It’ll also have to encompass his fight for survival and captivity. With Garrett Hedlund, Domhnall Gleeson, Finn Wittrock and Jai Courtney in the cast and a script that's been worked on by Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson and the Coen brothers at different points, this has all the makings of something both adventurous and potentially award-worthy. We’ll see for sure when the film arrives on December 25 in the US and January 16, 2015 over here.






While some Olympic promotional tie-ins might be a bit confusing (world class athletes and McNuggets??), the connection between Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken and the 2014 Sochi Games is as solid as Evgeni Plushenko’s right thigh. If you’re one of the very few people who didn’t read Laura Hillenbrand’s (Seabiscuit: An American Legend) runaway best-seller Unbroken, it tells the true story of an Olympic athlete, Louis “Louie” Zamperini, who, along with two fellow crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII. Puts all those #SochiProblems in perspective, doesn’t it?
The preview features some somber narration from Tom Brokaw and footage from the film intercut with an interview with the real-life Zamperini. The film stars Jack O’Connell as Zamperini and Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as his downed companions. Directed by Angelina Jolie and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Unbroken is sure to be a heavy-hitter during next year’s awards season. The book, written in Hildebrand’s irresistibly engaging style, has already been devoured by millions of book clubs and high school classes since it was published in 2010. Hillenbrand is, after all, the same author who made old time horse racing cool again. Unbroken opens Christmas Day, 2014.














Press Release via Movieweb

The will to push through any obstacle, the drive to not give into defeat. These are the virtues that define the Olympic spirit. Universal Pictures is honored to introduce the epic drama Unbroken in a special Olympics Preview piece featuring former Olympian Louis Zamperini's miraculous journey of resilience. With new film footage, an interview with Louis and real footage and photos from his past, watch the Unbroken Olympics Preview narrated by Tom Brokaw.

Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis 'Louie' Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII-only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand's ("Seabiscuit: An American Legend") enormously popular book, Unbroken brings to the big screen Zamperini's unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.



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