The first trailer for the latest Steven Spielberg film, The Post, dropped online on Nov. 7.
The film tells the true story of The Washington Post’s quest to publish the classified Pentagon Papers in 1971, while the government was attempting to stop them and therefore threatening to revoke freedom of the press. Tom Hanks will be playing the Post’s editor Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep is portraying publisher Katharine Graham — the first woman with the aforementioned title at a major newspaper.
Prior to The Washington Post involvement, President Richard Nixon had placed a court order on The New York Times from publishing stories that had been leaked from the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War. The dilemma, then, in The Post is whether The Washington Post should choose to follow suit, in fear of what could be done to them.
Considering that the issues raised in the trailer for The Post are a hot-button topics in the media today — with the whole idea of fake-news, politics and, just yesterday, Disney banning the LA Times from attending their screenings because of controversial articles they had written — the film looks to be an increasingly relevant one, despite the difference in time periods.
“If we don’t hold them accountable,” Hank says in the trailer, “who will?”
The film also stars Alison Brie (GLOW), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Carrie Coon (The Leftovers), Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek), Michael Stuhlbarg (Fargo), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad) and David Cross (Arrested Development).
It’s a safe bet that The Post is going to be up for some awards consideration, considering the huge ensemble cast, the subject matter, and Spielberg’s direction. While Ready Player One, which comes out next March, shows Spielberg returning to blockbusters, he’s found a knack for creating films out of true stories in the past decade; including Bridge of Spies, Lincoln and Munich.
The Post hits theaters in a limited release on Dec. 22, then going wide on Jan. 12. Watch the trailer for the film below.