
The first trailer for the period crime drama Lawless has gone online. Based on the novel The Wettest County in the World, the film stars Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy as two brothers who become bootleggers in the South during Prohibition. This first trailer is pretty incredible, and a different stellar actor seems to pop into frame every 10 seconds. LaBeouf, Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman all promise strong performances under the gritty/dirty direction of John Hillcoat (The Road). Prohibition is a swell setting for some great drama, and I’m excited to see Hillcoat weave all the pieces of the story together with a strong character focus. If the setting, cast, Hillcoat and the story aren’t enough to entice you, did I mention that the trailer features a bad ass Gary Oldman wielding a tommy gun?
Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska, and Dane DeHaan. Lawless will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month and opens nationwide on August 31st.
Click over to Apple to watch in HD.
Here’s a synopsis for Lawless:
LAWLESS is the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.


I am looking forward to this film. I am impressed by the trailer. From the start, I knew that Hillcoat was perfect for this story. He did a great job with Cormac McCarthy’s novel THE ROAD and also his timeless classic western Proposition in which starred Guy Pierce is a film that presents the world of western style in an artistic manner.
The trailer has already been pulled and it’s not available on Yahoo either.
Yeah, what the hells up with that??
Fantastic cast, looks good
Sold on this film… amazing
Holy Fershizzle my…well…since I gotta be PC…snizzle!!!
Wow. Guy Pearce, Tom Hardy, & Oldman…throw in Chastain…exclude OPTIMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS…& I’m sold.
Ah hell…Shia or not…I’m sold.
This looks B-E-A-Utiful.
I love How Tom hardy throws a punch. The guy is a beast.
Maybe it’s just Guy Pearce but I got the LA Confidential vibe from this despite how different it probably is. That’s a good vibe.
This looks amazing! Wanted to see more Mia, but it looks like she’ll have plenty of scenes.
Funny enough, I think Shia looks great. Heck, hel’s really surprised me from what I’ve seen and I can’t wait to see more. In fact, can they just give the SAG award to the entire cast right now? LOL
They’ll have some mighty tough competition this year with Dijango Unchained and Lincoln.
talk about competition, there is THE MASTER. period
that was so bad-ass. i didn’t know this is the kind of movie that i expected from GANGSTER SQUAD. looks like there will be two movies like that this year. AWESOME!
now show us the trailer to COGAN’S TRADE(KILLING THEM SOFTLY)
LaBeouf aside, I think this looks very promising. The cast is stellar!
whats with all the Shia hate…. he’s a great actor, verry natural, check out his Even Stevens stuff from when he was a kid, he blew everyone out off screen on that show… very charismatic with impecable comedic timing… it’ll be great to see him flex his dramatic muscle on screen with such heavyweights as Pearce, Oldman, and (the new generation) Hardy and Chastain
Looks Fantastic,
Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Mia Wasikowska and Superbly fantastic Jessica Chastain… the list is just unstoppable.
Can’t wait..
WOOO HOOOO cant wait to go down yander and see it!
I almost forgot that Oldman can play one hell of a bad a**!
As for the movie…You know what they can do with trailers.
Shia a good actor? P U L E A SE
Shia is like justin timberlake. Always acts the same way because he only can act one way. IMO.
Nevertheless, it looks really good! Surprise Hardy is just a tiny tad taller then Shia, whos tiny (5″9)…
Is it too early to say that Guy Pearce will get a Bets Supporting Actor nod for this? His character oozes vile and yet is so restrained.
A standout in the trailer for sure!
This does look great but I think they showed a little too much. They show hardy getting beat on and then a scene of Shia standing over a coffin. Could be wrong but I get the feeling he’s going to die
He’s standing behind Shia in that burial scene…
I dislike Shia labeouf he ruins movies in my opinion. He really effed up my childhood memories by messing with the transformers and then starred in the steaming pile of dog turd that was Indiana jones 4.
This however looks sooooooo good. I hardly recognized guy pearce when he was introduced. Jonathan hillcoat makes great movies i doubt this will be any less then that. August 31st can’t come soon enough.
Oh shit your right. My mistake.
Oh so it was on this film that LaBeouf claimed to have beaten down Tom Hardy or whatever the story was?! Hilarious, I doubt Shia could beat an egg without assistance let alone a double-hard bastard like Hardy! I need to go find that story again and Hardy’s very good humoured response to it.
Here ya go
“I got knocked out by Shia LaBeouf, actually. In Wettest County, apparently. Behind the scenes. No, he did. He knocked me out sparko. Out cold. He’s a bad, bad boy. He is. He’s quite intimidating as well. He’s a scary dude. He just attacked me. He was drinking moonshine. I was wearing a cardigan, and er, went down. I woke up in Pnut’s arms. [Pnut is Hardy's personal trainer.] He was concerned for me. I was like, ‘What was that? It was lightning fast.’ And he said, ‘That was Shia.’ I said, ‘Fuckin’ hell. Can we go home now?’ ‘No, we’ve still got three weeks to finish.”
Just read that response by Hardy. Wow, I never realized Shia is such a raging asshole. Makes me hate him and his horrible acting so much more. Hardy seems really cool.
I think that story might have been exaggerated by the tabloids. At least that’s what I heard.
Hardy is only 5’11″ but he is probably 200 so he looks huge. He has the Marky Mark thing going a little bit, but Mark is only 5’8″ LOL.
Thank God I can come here to rely on people with their great experience to tell me who is a bad actor an whatnot. An Gary Oldman badass?!!? Please, his last name says it all. Guy Pearce looking creepy, an the director alone make this worth watching. Well, at least for me. I’m no expert.
No, you’re not an expert. you’re an ignorant hypocrite.
Awesome. Now we need a trailer for Gangster Squad!
Guy Pearce looked great as the villain.
shia is a decent actor, not many compare to oldman or hardy but im sure he will do a great job.
as Eddie implied I’m blown away that a person able to profit $7977 in four weeks on the internet. did you look at this site N u t t y R i c h dot com
This would make a better tv show than movie.