Empire of Light trailer is out and it looks like Sam Mendes' love-letter to cinema
Searchlight Pictures dropped the first trailer for the upcoming romantic drama, Empire of Light, from Academy Award winning director Sam Mendes. The film is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September this year.
EMPIRE OF LIGHT
— Empire of Light (@EmpireLightFilm) August 24, 2022
A film by Sam Mendes
Starring Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, and Colin Firth
Only In Theaters This December pic.twitter.com/kjYdHQYbLG
Here’s the trailer for the film:
Set against the backdrop of a quaint English coastal town, the film follows a love story that unfolds at the local cinema in the 1980s.
Following his previous Academy Award winning war drama 1917 in 2020, Empire of Light marks Mendes’s ninth feature film. The project was announced in April 2021, with Mendes set to write and direct under the banner of Searchlight Pictures.
Empire of Light features a star-studded cast of characters including Academy Award winner Olivia Colman in a leading role alongside BAFTA Award winner Michael Ward. Academy Award winner Colin Firth and Olivier Award winner Toby Jones make up the supporting cast in the film.
olivia colman in empire of light, on her way to that second oscar ✨ pic.twitter.com/TgqcnUu50L
— rike ✨ olivia colman 4x oscar nominee (@THEFAVOURITE_) August 24, 2022
The trailer for the film showcases the magic of cinema and the joy of the movie-going experience as Toby Jones narrates an inspiring anecdote on how the illusion of light emulates life during a theatrical experience.
Fresh from the success of 1917’s Oscar-winning cinematography, the two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer, Roger Deakins, captures the allure of this little English theatre with poignancy in his fifth collaboration with Mendes.
The height of irony for the Empire of Light trailer to wax poetically about the magic of projecting 35mm film when Roger Deakins has entirely refused to shoot in that format anymore.
— Josh Parham (@JRParham) August 24, 2022
Having won their latest Oscar for Soul (2020), Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, the two-time Academy Award-winning duo are in charge of scoring the original music for the film, a first-time collaboration with Mendes.
It’s fascinating that Thomas Newman didn’t compose the score for Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light (this time around it’s Reznor & Ross).
— J.P SAW-IT (@MovieBaller_JP) August 24, 2022
The only other Mendes film that Newman didn’t compose was Away We Go (underrated but amazing film), that used songs by Alexi Murdoch.
With a cast and crew of such calibre, the film seems ripe for the picking come awards season this year, having already set itself apart as a major contender in this year’s Oscar race.
I can normally hold back my cynicism on a movie until I've actually seen it but *man* Empire of Light looks about as custom-designed for awards and nothing else as any movie from a "major" director in a very long time.
— Jonathan (@jonathanmb32) August 24, 2022
And just like that, I’m thinking Empire of Light could be next year’s Best Picture frontrunner.
— Dennis Buckly (@Playbuck_PH) August 24, 2022
Empire of Light is set to hit theatres on December 9, 2022.