Bleecker Street has released the first trailer for director Jay Roach's upcoming drama Trumbo. The film stars Bryan Cranston as Hollywood screenwriter Douglas Trumbo, who famously refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee and was subsequently blacklisted and sentenced to an 11-month stay in prison. Despite his professional exile, Trumbo continued to write screenplays under pseudonyms, even winning two Academy Awards in the process for Roman Holiday and The Brave One. While the trailer gets a little too deep into the overall story for my liking, the film overall looks like a lot of fun. Cranston is equally comfortable hamming it up when portraying Trumbo's boisterous personality and going softer when the scribe hits tough times. It's also a fascinating choice of material for Roach, who's known for broad comedies like Austin Powers and Meet the Parents, but who's been delving into more political material as of late with the HBO films Recount and Game Change.

Check out the trailer below, via Fandango. The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before its November 6th theatrical release, and also stars Helen MirrenDiane LaneLouis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Louis C.K., and Alan Tudyk.


Here's the official synopsis for Trumbo:

The successful career of 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) comes to a crushing end when he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs. TRUMBO (directed by Jay Roach) tells the story of his fight against the U.S. government and studio bosses in a war over words and freedom, which entangled everyone in Hollywood from Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) and John Wayne to Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger.

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