If Sundance darling The Birth of a Nation wasn’t already considered an early Oscar contender beforehand, Fox Searchlight’s lucrative and indeed record-breaking deal for Nate Parker’s celebrated slave drama – to the tune of $17.5 million – has fired the period piece into contention going into awards season.
Targeting an opportune release in October, last month brought forth the film’s harrowing first trailer, placing Nate Parker at the forefront of a slave rebellion during the throes of the early 1800s. Drawing attention to that brutal history, Fox Searchlight has premiered am evocative new motion poster for The Birth of a Nation (you can catch the static one below), teasing the beginning of one of the most crucial uprisings in the country’s troubled history.
Standing as the key driving force behind Nation, Nate Parker takes up arms as Nat Turner, a “literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities – against himself and his fellow slaves – Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.”
Written, produced and directed by Parker, The Birth of a Nation is no slouch in the casting department either, having assembled the likes of Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith and Gabrielle Union.
Fox Searchlight will bring about The Birth of a Nation on October 7, when Nate Parker’s historical drama shoots for awards glory.
