After spending a few years in development (and taking time out to direct the first Hunger Games film), Gary Ross has finally had the chance to work on one of his passion projects. New images from the film, The Free State Of Jones, are now online.
Matthew McConaughey stars in the American Civil War drama, playing real-life advocate Newton Knight. A Mississippi man who had been a loyal Confederate recruit, he defected from the army and took a group of like-minded troops with him to create the Free State of Jones. Knight later married a slave (Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Rachel), creating one of the first ever publicised mixed race unions in the South, fought against the Confederates from within his new state and led a daring raid to free children who were still enslaved following the end of the conflict.
STX Entertainment is backing this one, which Ross wrote as well as directed. The cast also features McConaughey's old Mud co-star Jacob Lofland, Keri Russell, Mahershala Ali, Sean Bridgers and Christopher Barry. It’ll land in US cinemas on March 11 next year, but doesn’t yet have a confirmed UK date.