After others tried to get the film made for over five years, Clint Eastwood went ahead and shot his Richard Jewell film–simply titled Richard Jewell–about three months ago, and now it’s coming out to theaters in less than three months. Led by I, Tonya break-out star Paul Walter Hauser, the cast also includes Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, and Olivia Wilde, Warner Bros. has now debuted the first trailer.
Based on a 1997 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner (author of the source material for Michael Mann’s The Insider) and scripted by Billy Ray, it follows the public torment of Richard Jewell, a security guard working at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was initially lauded as a hero for discovering three pipe bombs on the premises, but then vilified by the media for being a potential suspect, despite a lack of evidence; Jewell was eventually cleared of all charges.
See the trailer below.
Directed by Clint Eastwood and based on true events, “Richard Jewell” is a story of what happens when what is reported as fact obscures the truth.
“There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have thirty minutes.” The world is first introduced to Richard Jewell as the security guard who reports finding the device at the 1996 Atlanta bombing—his report making him a hero whose swift actions save countless lives. But within days, the law enforcement wannabe becomes the FBI’s number one suspect, vilified by press and public alike, his life ripped apart.
Reaching out to independent, anti-establishment attorney Watson Bryant, Jewell staunchly professes his innocence. But Bryant finds he is out of his depth as he fights the combined powers of the FBI, GBI and APD to clear his client’s name, while keeping Richard from trusting the very people trying to destroy him.
Richard Jewell opens on December 13.