Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne Seek Answers in the Sky in Amazon’s First The Aeronauts Trailer
Photos courtesy of Amazon Studios Movies News The Aeronauts
“So it begins”: Amazon Studios adventure film The Aeronauts has achieved liftoff in the form of its first trailer this Thursday morning. The Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne vehicle (the movie, not the balloon) promises plenty of IMAX-ready, sky-high spectacle, not to mention the ample charisma of its dual leads.
Directed by Tom Harper (Wild Rose) from a Jack Thorne screenplay, the true events-inspired film, set in 19th-century London, finds daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Wren (Jones) banding together with pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher (Redmayne) to undertake a death-defying adventure, flying higher than anyone in history so as to gain invaluable knowledge of the weather. Their vertical voyage proves harrowing, as we see in the trailer, when our heroes are forced to endure life-threatening high-altitude conditions in the name of scientific advancement.
The film reunites Jones and Redmayne for the first time since James Marsh’s 2014 bio-drama The Theory of Everything, which won Redmayne an Oscar for his portrayal of scientific titan Stephen Hawking. Jones was also nominated for her turn as Jane Hawking, a performance Paste contributor Andy Crump praised as “wonderful, delicate work” in his review of the film. The Aeronauts sounds to have required full commitment from the duo—producer Todd Lieberman explained upon the film’s announcement they would do “as much balloon filming in the sky as the weather [would] allow,” with Jones and Redmayne performing key scenes thousands of feet in the actual air.
Also starring alongside Jones and Redmayne are Yesterday breakout Himesh Patel, Oscar nominee Tom Courtenay (The Dresser), Phoebe Fox (Eye in the Sky), Vincent Perez (At Eternity’s Gate ) and Anne Reid (Years and Years), all of whom presumably spent their time on set being glad they didn’t have to shoot anything at altitude.
The Aeronauts comes to theaters Dec. 6 before streaming on Prime Video Dec. 20. Watch the film’s first trailer below.