Cannes 2012: John Hillcoat's 'Lawless' Gets Awesome Trailer

Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman steal the show in Hillcoat's prohibition gangster movie that debuts on the Croisette next month.

I've been anticipating John Hillcoat's prohibition gangster movie "Lawless" from the first moment it was announced and although it has been a rocky road to get to the point where I'm now just a month away from my eyes finally seeing the finished film, boy was it worth the wait and am I glad this one got made. We talk an awful lot about in-development movies here at What Culture and nothing hurts more than really promising projects that never come to fruition. There's nothing worse than missed opportunities and at one point "The Wettest County in the World", as it was then known, based on the title of Matt Bondurant's book, looked like it was just going to be another 'what could have been'. Financing couldn't come together despite the likes of Ryan Gosling and Scarlett Johansson's attachment for key roles. But sometimes the stars do align and with director John Hillcoat assembling an astonishing cast and with The Weinstein Company's backing, the film debuts in a coveted "In Competition" slot at next month's Cannes Film Festival where the studio are hoping to strike it lucky again with the most talked about movie of the event, just like they did with "The Artist" last year that hit a wave that took it all the way to Oscar glory. Ambitions for which we can forgive them for changing an awesome, prestigious title to something so generic like "Lawless", but the movie is the important thing and it looks awesome. Watch the trailer for yourselves below; http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vhAlgm3kVEo "Lawless" follows Bondurant brothers Forrest (Jason Clarke), Howard (Tom Hardy) and Jack (Shia LaBeouf) €“ a family bootlegging gang who find their moonshine dynasty in Franklin County, Virginia threatened by the authorities wanting a cut during the 30€s Prohibition era. In what will probably be a show-stealing turn Gary Oldman supports as the brothers€™ employer and Hillcoat€™s muse, Guy Pearce, brought over from his previous films The Proposition and The Road, features as a violent deputy hot on their heels. Let's not forget Jessica Chastain is in this one and looks absolutely glowing in the trailer. Typically of Hillcoat the movie looks deliberately paced, beautifully shot and with a sense of epic coming through in the violent themes and the power of the actors performances. Particularly looking strong in this one is Gary Oldman, doing his best John Dillinger, and the performances of Guy Pearce and Tom Hardy shine through as potential scene-stealers. Really can't wait to see this one. This, along with "Killing Them Softly" (another movie which should never have had its title changed) are the movies we are looking forward to most in Cannes next month but if you aren't visiting the Croisette, don't despair. The Weinsteins have just announced an August 31st release date in the UK which isn't so far away.
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Editor-in-chief

Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.