Let’s take a look at the recently released first trailer of the American Civil War movie The Free State of Jones, inspired from true events.
The Free State of Jones is top billed by Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey. The Tinseltown A-lister plays the lead character – Newton Knight – who led a group of Confederate soldiers that turned against the Confederacy, the side they were supposed to fight for, during the Civil War. Knight went on to marry a former Negro slave [played in the movie by the English film and stage actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw] and helped in establishing the first mixed race community, the Free State of Jones, by leading a secession effort in the said region.
Here’s how the upcoming movie The Free State of Jones is described by its distributor, STX Entertainment:
“Written and directed by four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross (THE HUNGER GAMES, SEABISCUIT, PLEASANTVILLE), and starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. FREE STATE OF JONES is an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy.
Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones.
Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.”
The movie will be released come May 13 this year.
So, what do you think of the movie?