Denzel Washingtonhas just thrown his hat into the Oscar ring in a big way. Paramount Pictures has just released the first trailer forFences, which the two-time Academy Award winner both directed and starred in. By the looks of things, this movie could be a major awards season contender and a massive showcase forDenzel Washingtonto display what he is capable of both in front of and behind the camera.
Paramountuploaded the teaser trailer to their YouTube channel on Tuesday, giving all of us our first good look at what will surely be one of the most buzzed about movies this Winter.Fencestells the story of a former baseball player named Troy (Denzel Washington) who is trying to raise and support his family in the 1950s, a time where the United States was very racially charged. He encounters struggles while trying to raise his son Cory (Jovan Adepo) who wants to play college football, while also dealing with his complex relationship with his wife Rose (Viola Davis). Both Denzel Washington and Viola Davis starred in the 2010 revival of the play, earning Tony Awards for their performances.
Fencesis based on the Pulitzer andTony Award-winningplay byAugust Wilson, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. This marks the first time thatDenzel Washingtonhas stepped behind the camera to direct a movie since his 2007 effortThe Great Debaters. In the time since, he has focused quite a bit on acting in action movies like2 Guns,The Book of Eli,The Equalizerand most recently the remake ofThe Magnificent Seven. The last time he was in a movie that garnered serious awards consideration was in 2012 when he starred in theRobert ZemeckismovieFlight, which earned him a Best Actor nomination at theOscarsthat year.
Paramount will have a few movies out this year that will be awards season hopefuls. Along withFences, the studio will also be distributing the highly-anticipatedMartin ScorsesemovieSilence, which also has an Oscar-friendly, limited release date in late December. The studio is likely hoping that these movies will have some commercial appeal as well, as they have had some serious bombs this year likeBen-HurandTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. While we don’t know how wide of a releaseFenceswill be getting initially, it is set for release on Christmas Day on December 25. It wall face some heavy competition on its initial release, as a lot of blockbuster movies such asPassengers,Assassin’s CreedandRogue one: A Star Wars Storywill all be out in theaters at that time.
Denzel Washingtonis no stranger to awards season, but as a director, he has yet to hit it out of the park. The early buzz onFencesis highly positive and this trailer gives us every reason to believe that he may have finally nailed it. It also doesn’t hurt that he has the talents of a fellow Oscar winner inViola Davisto bring this critically-acclaimed play to the big screen. You can check out the first trailer forFencesfor yourself below.
