Gary Oldman IS Winston Churchill in the first trailer for DARKEST HOUR

Focus Features makes no bones about the sheer depth of Gary Oldman’s disappearance into becoming Winston Churchill in what looks to be one of the most physically transformative performances in recent memory. The first trailer for Darkest Hour gives us one of those loud, bombastic, plate-smashing performances that the Oscars love and Gary Oldman looks to be on his way to a victory come next March. Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement) and written by Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), the trailer is full of suspense, drama and ACTING.

[box type=”shadow” align=”” class=”” width=””]A thrilling and inspiring true story begins on the eve of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and freedom of a nation. As the unstoppable Nazi forces roll across Western Europe and the threat of invasion is imminent, and with an unprepared public, a skeptical King, and his own party plotting against him, Churchill must withstand his darkest hour, rally a nation, and attempt to change the course of world history.[/box]

Alongside Oldman, Darkest Hour also stars Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmy winner Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James and Stephen Dillane. Focus Features will release the film on November 22nd.

Check out what the Gold Rush Gang thinks of Oldman and Darkest Hour‘s Oscar chances right now.

Here is the trailer.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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