The first trailer for Ron Howard’s latest film, Thirteen Lives, has released online. Initially slated to release exclusively in theatres on April 15th, the movie was then pushed to November 18th after test scores for the film came out to be the best in MGM’s history.
However, after Amazon acquired MGM earlier this year, the movie has then pivoted to a hybrid release. The end result is that the heartrending tale of a real-life rescue in Thailand will come out in theatres on July 29th and on Amazon Prime Video on August 5th. The theatrical run will be a one week limited engagement, per a press release from Amazon.
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Directed by Howard, with a screenplay by William Nicholson and a story by Nicholson and Don Macpherson, the movie will star Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, Sukollawat Kanarot, Tom Bateman, Paul Gleeson, Pattrakorn Tungsupakul, Tui Thiraphat Sajakul, James Teeradon Supapunpinyo, and Sahajak Boonthanakit. The film was produced by P.J. van Sandwijk, Gabrielle Tana, Karen Lunder, William M. Connor, Brian Grazer, Howard, and executive produced by Jon Kuyper, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Marie Savare, Michael Lesslie, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Jason Cloth.
Thirteen Lives Honors Real-Life Heroes
Benjamin Wallfisch will be composing the score for Thirteen Lives, while Thai cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom will be landing his hand at the photography. Mukdeeprom is best-known for his collaboration with director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, with films such as Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Blissfully Yours, Mysterious Object at Noon, Syndromes and a Century, and, most recently, Memoria, which will only play in theatres forever. He also recently worked on Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington, Vicky Krieps, Boyd Holbrook, and Alicia Vikander–an action thriller everyone should see.
According to the press release, its plot synopsis reads “Thirteen Lives recounts the incredible true story of the tremendous global effort to rescue a Thai soccer team who become trapped in the Tham Luang cave during an unexpected rainstorm. Faced with insurmountable odds, a team of the world’s most skilled and experienced divers – uniquely able to navigate the maze of flooded, narrow cave tunnels – join with Thai forces and more than 10,000 volunteers to attempt a harrowing rescue of the twelve boys and their coach. With impossibly high stakes and the entire world watching, the group embarks on their most challenging dive yet, showcasing the limitlessness of the human spirit in the process.”
Howard’s most recent work was in We Feed People, which was released on Disney+ last May. He also directed Hillbilly Elegy in 2020, the controversial film based on J.D. Vance’s equally controversial book of the same name, which landed Glenn Close her eighth Academy Award nomination, to which she lost to Youn Yuh-jung for Minari. Thirteen Lives boasts an impeccable cast, and the talent behind (and in front of) the camera is there to produce something truly special as it tells the true (and harrowing) story of a cave rescue, in which three cave divers played a central role in saving the junior football team inside the Tham Luang cave.
You can watch the trailer for Thirteen Lives below and see the movie either in theatres on July 29th or stream it on Amazon Prime Video as of August 5th:
What do you think? Are you looking forward to seeing Thirteen Lives? Do you think this could be one of Ron Howard’s best work in recent memory? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow us on Twitter!
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