Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell gets its first compelling trailer

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

In proper Clint Eastwood fashion, the director has finished his latest movie, RICHARD JEWELL, faster than I could get caught up with the show SUCCESSION, and after filming this summer the movie is ready for release this December. You probably didn’t know he even started the movie starring Paul Walter Hauser (BLAKKKLANSMAN; I, TONYA) as Jewell, and not only is it done, but now the first trailer has hit the web, which also features Sam Rockwell as Jewell's attorney, Watson Bryant, and Kathy Bates as his mom, Bobi. 

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The trailer comes after the first images dropped, this time offering a look at Jon Hamm's FBI agent and Olivia Wilde's as a reporter, two figures who tried to make Jewell fit the narrative of a man who sought fame and glory, and planted the bomb to do it. "Clint seemed broken up about the story of Richard Jewell. It still bothered him years later," Hauser recently told USA Today. "He sounded like he was hurting for that family, and wanted the story to come out." 

The movie itself (written by Billy Ray) looks exactly how you would expect an Eastwood movie to look, fit with the dramatic, tragic music. Jewell's story certainly is a tragic one, and the trailer showcases how Eastwood made sure to make the media and government look like the villains here. The crowd who normally shows out for the director's movies will perhaps show out just as much here, if not as much as they did for AMERICAN SNIPER a few years ago. Still, he starred in a movie last December, THE MULE, which went on to make $100+ million at the domestic box office, so his name still carries plenty of weight there. Warner Bros.' quickly set it up for an awards-season release, so between that, Eastwood's name, and what looks like a terrific performance from Hauser as Jewell, this is easily one to keep an eye out for later this year. 

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Here's a synopsis:

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 is set for theaters on December 13.