'1917' Trailer: Sam Mendes Goes Back To The Height Of World War I

After two globe-trotting movies with a certain suave spy, Skyfall director Sam Mendes is making his return to the period piece with 1917. A war drama that follows two soldiers in a single day at the height of World War I, 1917 has a stacked cast full of every British actor in existence, including  Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Madden, and Hot Priest himself, Andrew Scott. Watch the 1917 trailer below.

1917 will follow two British soldiers Schofield (Captain Fantastic's George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones' Dean-Charles Chapman) when they're given a "seemingly impossible mission" that takes them across enemy territory in a race against time. In addition to prestige drama heavy-hitters Firth and Cumberbatch, the cast also includes Madden, Scott, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan and Claire Duburcq.

The plot sounds eerily similar to Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, but the World War I setting and Mendes' distinctly different directorial style would hopefully set 1917 apart. 1917 will be Mendes' first period drama in more than a decade, following 2008's Revolutionary Road, and will be his first war drama since 2005's Jarhead. But considering the director's success with both genres, we can assume that 1917 will be Mendes in his element.

Mendes is set to direct and co-write with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Showtime's Penny Dreadful). The film is produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris (co-executive producer, Revolutionary Road; executive producer, Away We Go) for their Neal Street Productions, Jayne-Ann Tenggren (co-producer, The Rhythm Section; associate producer, Spectre), Callum McDougall (executive producer, Mary Poppins Returns, Skyfall) and Brian Oliver (executive producer, Rocketman; Black Swan).

Here is the synopsis for 1917:

At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic's George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones' Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake's own brother among them.

Universal Pictures will release 1917 in limited release on December 25, 2019 and wide on January 10, 2020.