HBO has released a new Fahrenheit 451 trailer. Written and directed by Ramin Bahrani (99 Homes), with co-writer Amir Naderi, the TV movie stars Michael B. Jordan as protagonist/fireman Guy Montag alongside Michael Shannon as his boss, Captain Beatty. Based on the book by Ray Bradbury, the film follows Montag, who burns books until he starts questioning what his work means for society.

The movie looks terrific and a clever update of Bradbury’s source material. And yet I can’t help but feel a bit saddened that the film has been relegated to HBO. Yes, a film that’s an adaptation of a classic sci-fi book about burning books isn’t going to make a billion dollars worldwide. But ten years ago, a movie with this kind of star power and based a book that everyone has to read in middle school would undoubtedly receive a theatrical release. Instead, we’re going to have to watch it at home. That’s a bit disappointing, but I’m still eager to see Bahrani’s take on the material.

Check out the new Fahrenheit 451 trailer below. The film will hit HBO in May and also stars Sofia Boutella, Keir Dullea, Martin Donovan, Grace Lynn Kung, and Jane Moffatt.

Here’s the official synopsis for Fahrenheit 451:

Fahrenheit 451 is based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel. In a future where the media is an opiate, history is rewritten and "firemen" burn books, Jordan plays Guy Montag, a young fireman who struggles with his role as law enforcer and with his "mentor", played by Shannon.

And here’s the synopsis for Bradbury’s novel:

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

 

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.

 

When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.