Detroit Trailer & Poster: John Boyega Must Survive the Night

Detroit Trailer & Poster: John Boyega Must Survive the Night

Annapurna Pictures has released the first trailer and poster for Kathryn Bigelow’s drama Detroit starring John Boyega. It’s hard to think of a director working in the entertainment industry nowadays, who handles adaptations of real-life wartime/politically charged moments in US history better than Bigelow does. Starting with 2009’s The Hurt Locker – which Bigelow became the first ever female director to win Best Picture for – the veteran filmmaker has managed to make a name for herself in the industry with tension-filled retellings of stories from the nation’s history that most might not already be aware of. She only went on to further demonstrate that talent again in 2012 with Zero Dark Thirty, the Academy Award-nominated film about the work of one real life U.S. intelligence officer, and how she proved integral to the eventual finding and execution of Osama Bin Laden.

After almost a five-year hiatus between films, Bigelow is set to return to the big screen this year for the first time since Zero Dark Thirty, with her newest film, Detroit. Based on a true story, the film details the events surrounding the Detroit riots in 1967, which occurred following a controversial police raid, and eventually became some of the largest and most violent citizen uprisings in the nation’s history.

Following the first teaser released yesterday, the first official theatrical trailer for Detroit has been released online by Annapurna Pictures today, which you can watch in the space above. Starring John Boyega, Will Poulter, Jason Mitchell, Anthony Mackie, John Krasinski, and more, the film promises to be the third in a growing line of films like this from Bigelow. While the teaser doesn’t reveal much in terms of the film’s supporting characters, it does offer a fairly palpable look at the central conflict and the growing tensions between the police and the citizens of Detroit at the time, with Boyega’s young police officer at the center of it all. Also, check out the film’s official poster for yourself down below:

Detroit Trailer & Poster: John Boyega Must Survive the Night

Already, there are some clear similarities between Detroit and Bigelow’s more recent films. Stylistically alone, the film boasts the same handheld, in the very midst of the action, guerrilla style of filming that Bigelow demonstrated beautifully before in both The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. That’s not necessarily surprising, considering Detroit also marks the third collaboration between Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, following their work together on both Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty.

Set to be released theatrically at the beginning of August, just when the summer movie season is finally starting to wind down, don’t be surprised if Detroit goes on to become an early awards contender as more and more prestige films begin to be released in the last few months of the year. After all, not only is it the newest film from Bigelow, it also features one of the best casts of the year, and is being released by Annapurna Pictures, a relatively young studio in the industry, but one that has proven itself to be one of the most reliable and best around right now. Based just on this, Detroit already looks like it’ll just continue to live up to its studio’s reputation.