We’ve had a Capote biopic and we’ve had an Allen Ginsberg biopic. Heck, there’s even been a Charles Bukowski biopic. And while Thomas Wolfe might not be as well-known as other literary masterminds, that doesn’t mean his own tale of triumph isn’t worthy of a movie. The first trailer for Wolfe’s biopic Genius has now arrived, and it appears to be the first prestige movie of the year that’s aimed squarely at the awards season crowd.
Jude Law toplines the film as Wolfe and Colin Firth joins him as editor Maxwell Perkins, the man responsible for discovering several well-known literary figures. It takes place in 1920s New York, and charts the relationship between the pair as Wolfe was in the midst of working on a lengthy tome. He churned out thousands of pages in his first draft, and it’s the scaling down of that bulky manuscript that provides the trailer’s highlights. Firth and Law’s banter is just brilliant.
By the looks of things, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions both have a lot of faith in the project. In addition to highlighting several “showy” scenes from the film, the trailer boasts the “Oscar winner” and “Oscar nominee” prefix for practically its entire cast. It’s no surprise, as that line-up includes Nicole Kidman as Wolfe’s girlfriend, Dominic West, Guy Pearce and Laura Linney.
Directed by Michael Grandage from a script by Gladiator scribe John Logan, Genius arrives in theaters on June 10.
From Academy Award-nominated screenwriter JOHN LOGAN (Gladiator, The Aviator, Hugo, Skyfall) and acclaimed, Tony Award-winning director MICHAEL GRANDAGE in his feature film debut, comes Genius, a stirring drama about the complex friendship and transformative professional relationship between the world-renowned book editor Maxwell Perkins (who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway) and the larger-than-life literary giant Thomas Wolfe. Based on the biography “Max Perkins: Editor of Genius” by A. SCOTT BERG, Genius stars COLIN FIRTH as Perkins, JUDE LAW as Wolfe, NICOLE KIDMAN as Aline Bernstein, a costume designer sharing a tumultuous relationship with Wolfe, LAURA LINNEY as Louise Perkins, Max’s wife and a talented playwright, GUY PEARCE as F. Scott Fitzgerald and DOMINIC WEST as Ernest Hemingway.
