It's been well over three years since we saw the last film to be directed by John Hillcoat, the immensely talented Australian filmmaker behind the bracingly brutal neo-western The Proposition, as well as the not-half-bad adaptation of Corman McCarthy's beloved The Road. When last we left Hillcoat, he directed the Tom Hardy-fronted prohibition drama Lawless, which also starred Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, and Shia LaBeouf, from a screenplay by the great singer/songwriter Nick Cave.
Lawless was a lot more pretty and docile than one would have hoped, especially considering the volatile subject material, but this does not seem to be the case with Hillcoat's upcoming American feature, Triple 9, about the aftermath of a major bank robbery that leads to a street war between cops and robbers. And more than any other film by Hillcoat, Triple 9 boasts an astounding cast, led by Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Casey Affleck, and Woody Harrelson, alongside major character actors like Gal Gadot, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr., and Teresa Palmer. And now we have the UK trailer for the film, which will be released early next year, which gives out a bit more of what the plot turns of Triple 9 will be. Check out the new trailer below:
On one hand, it's interesting to see how Hillcoat, working from a script by Matt Cook, will separate and layer the bracing drama of the story, between Mackie's corrupt cop and Affleck's unlucky, unlikely hero, and between Ejofor's career criminal and crime queen Kate Winslet. On the other hand, the full-on onslaught of the first trailer was able to get audiences excited about the action-thriller without giving too much away, allowing Hillcoat's horrifying, exhilerating imagery and his tremendous cast speak for themselves without letting the inner workings of the plot out. Regardless, its good to see the man back in a more brutal terrain in Triple 9, which will see release nationwide on February 19th, 2016.
