Only The Brave‘s First Trailer Shows a World in Flames
Photo by Richard Foreman/Sony Movies Video Only The Brave
In 2013, a massive wildfire swept through Arizona, killing 19 firefighters. The tragedy—now known as the Yarnell Hill Fire—was the sixth largest loss of firefighter life in America’s history. The men who died were all members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, specifically trained to combat wildfires. Vice President Joe Biden said of these men at their memorial, “All men are created equal. But then, a few became firefighters.”
The forthcoming film Only The Brave will attempt to portray this heart-wrenching story on the big screen. Expected later this year, the true-story film comes packaged with a star-studded cast. With Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, Taylor Kitsch, James Badge Dale and Jennifer Connelly, Brave’s cast are no strangers to the Academy Awards.
This first trailer certainly looks well-made and like it’ll hit all of the appropriate emotional beats to tell this story well. If nothing else, it promises a fascinating look at a story that may not be well-known to some.
Director Joseph Kosinski explained his reasons for wanting to tackle this story in an interview with GQ:
I read an early draft of the script, and wildland firefighting was something I didn’t know anything about. You know, their job is so far away from civilization, in many cases. That was fascinating to me. And the approach of this story—taking it from two points of view simultaneously. There’s the guy at the very top: Eric Marsh [Josh Brolin], the superintendent of the Granite Mountain hotshots. And the guy at the bottom: Brendan McDonaugh [Miles Teller], who is just applying for the job. I thought that was a very interesting structure—and being a Midwest kid from a small town, I guess I related to the world of Prescott. It’s a fascinating story, and very different than anything I’ve done before.
That last bit is certainly true, as his last major film was 2013’s sci-fi epic Oblivion, and his next film (after Only The Brave) is the Top Gun sequel.
Check out the full, fiery trailer above. Only The Brave is out on Oct. 20.