Must Watch: Green Zone Domestic And International Movie Trailers

[Update: The international trailer of Green Zone is now available courtesy of MSNBC (via Collider). This trailer is cut much less like a Bourne film and doesn't emphasize the same fonts and interstitials of that series. See both trailers after the jump and let us know which one you like better in the comments. The original post follows.]

One of the movies I've been increasingly curious about in the last year has been Green Zone, the Paul Greengrass-directed semi-adaptation of Rajiv Chandrasekaran's book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. Universal has just released the first trailer. Check it out and let us know what you think of the latest political actioner from the guy behind United 93, Bloody Sunday and the last two Bourne movies.

Yahoo has the trailer debut. After watching the trailer a couple of times, what I'll say is this: I hope the film is a lot less conventional than this pitch makes it appear. What I'm seeing here is a fairly serious political action movie sold in a Bourne manner to appeal to the widest possible audience.

Which isn't really a surprise, as there has been concern in some quarters that Universal didn't have the greatest confidence in the film. It was pushed from this fall to March of next year, though in a weak business year for Universal, like 2009 has been, that makes sense. Because Green Zone is a $100m Iraq movie, and no Iraq movie has done that well with audiences. But star Matt Damon is behind it, while recognizing that it isn't the easiest sell:

It's great, I've seen it. They're finishing some of the effects, and it'll be ready for March. We got a $100m Iraq movie, so we'll see! I do have high hopes for it, though. I think it's really good. I know the Iraq movies haven't been particularly popular so far, but hopefully this will find an audience. It's a thriller, really, set against the canvas of Iraq in 2003.

Regardless of my less than ecstatic feelings for this trailer, there aren't many mainstream filmmakers in whom I have more confidence and interest than Greengrass. He hasn't made a bad film yet, and United 93 was all the things a 9/11 film needed to be: powerful, tasteful and full of insight. If anyone can knock this one out of the park, it's him.

Here's the domestic trailer:Here's the significantly different international trailer: