The trailer for Lee Daniels‘ The Butler didn’t do a lot for me in terms of making me want to see it, but with the Weinsteins behind it, and August release date and an impressive ensemble cast it definitely has “Oscar potential” written all over it. The fact it’s based on a true story and has a previous Oscar winner in Forest Whitaker in the lead role and at least four (there may be more, I stopped counting) Oscar winners — Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr. — joining him is just icing on the cake.
Today the first poster for the film has premiered (via Moviefone) and can be viewed below.
I’ve included the trailer above for anyone that hasn’t seen it, do you see this as a major Oscar contender? What categories?
The Butler, based on the screenplay by Danny Strong and Lee Daniels, is inspired by Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about an African-American man who served as a butler (Forest Whitaker) to eight Presidents in the White House for over thirty years. From this unique vantage point, The Butler traces the dramatic changes that swept American society, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and family.
