In their continued collaborations on films that adapt real-world events, director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg are tackling what could be the trickiest yet, especially in terms of tone. See the new trailer for Boston Marathon bombing drama Patriots Day below.
The film blends reality and cinematic invention to chronicle the events surrounding the bombing that happened at the finish line of the Boston race on April 15, 2013. Investigators eventually narrowed down suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and a huge manhunt followed, with Tamerlan killed in a firefight with officers and Dzhokhar found guilty of all his charges and sentenced to death. The likes of J.K. Simmons, John Goodman, Michelle Monaghan and Kevin Bacon are all in the cast.
While they've handled the likes of Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon, this one presents the added emotional challenge of an incident that struck at the very core of American culture. How much do you draw from real life? How much do you fictionalise? And how do you balance actual heroism with the temptation over-sentimentalise such a story? We'll see how it worked out when the film arrives in the UK on 24 February.