Domhnall Gleeson will star in director Angelina Jolie’s first studio film ‘Unbroken’, a real-life story about Olympian Louis Zamperini.
Universal Pictures has released the first trailer for the biopic, which is narrated by Tom Brokaw and stars English actor Jack O'Connell as Zamperini, a former distance runner who survived life as a prisoner of war in World War II when he was captured as an American/Italian bombardier by the Japanese Navy.
Gleeson ('Harry Potter') stars alongside Finn Wittrock ('All My Children') as Phil and Mac, the airmen with whom Zamperini endured perilous weeks adrift in the open Pacific. Other cast members include Garrett Hedlund ('Tron: Legacy'), John Magaro ('Not Fade Away'), Finn Wittrock ('A New York Winter’s Tale'), Jai Courtney ('A Good Day to Die Hard'), Japanese actor Miyavi, who plays the brutal camp guard known only to the men as ‘The Bird’, and Alex Russell ('Carrie') as Zamperini's brother, Pete.
The film is based on the bestselling biography ‘Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption’ by Laura Hillenbrand (author of 'Seabiscuit') and the screenplay is co-written by the Coen brothers, who rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William Nicholson ('Les Misérables') and Richard LaGravenese (HBO's 'Behind the Candelabra').
‘Unbroken’ is produced by Jolie, Erwin Stoff ('The Blind Side'), Matthew Baer ('Jack Frost') and Clayton Townsend ('This is 40'). 10-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins ('Skyfall') is also involved in the film.
Jolie’s latest directorial project ‘Unbroken’ has just finished filming in Australia and is set to be released on the 16th of January 2015.
A preview for ‘Unbroken’ can be viewed below:
