Gautam Anand
The first trailer of ‘Bombshell’, the new movie which focuses on the former sex scandal at Fox News, has arrived. The film will document the downfall of Roger Ailes, who was considered to be the mastermind behind the success of Fox News and one of the most powerful people in the media world as well as American politics. ‘Bombshell’ is helmed by Jay Roach, who is known for works like ‘Trumbo’ and ‘Austin Powers‘, and has been written by Charles Randolph, also known for ‘The Big Short‘. Roach, Randolph, Beth Kono, Aaron L. Gilbert, A.J. Dix, and Margaret Riley are on-board as the producers. Theron is co-producing as well. Jason Cloth and Ashley Levinson are the executive producers while Bron Studios is co-financing and producing ‘Bombshell’. The movie, distributed by Lionsgate, is slated to release on December 20, 2019.
The trailer shows an elevator ride shared by Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson and Kayla Pospisil, a fictional news producer, played by Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie respectively. The trip to the second floor of Fox News Channel is uncomfortable as the women are anxious about something. ‘Bombshell’, the title, is adept as it depicts what began with a whisper ultimately ended with a bombshell. Other cast members in the film include Kate McKinnon, Stephen Root, Connie Britton, and Allison Janney. John Lithgow appears as Roger Ailes while Malcolm McDowell steps in as Rupert Murdoch.
The film follows the women who took on the culture of toxic masculinity that prevailed at Fox News. The focal point of the story is reportedly the sexual harassment case that ultimately lead to the downfall of Ailes. For those unaware, Ailes stepped down in 2016, after Carlson filed a lawsuit for sexual harassment against him. The lawsuit resulted in several women coming forward to level similar accusations against Ailes. In a post-#MeToo era, ‘Bombshell’ is likely to be well received.
Theron, who plays Kelly, spoke about the role, saying “I didn’t know how complicated her situation was and I think for a lot of people, they didn’t understand why she didn’t just speak up. She was in a complicated place and as a human being, I have empathy for that. I don’t think a lot of people truly understood that.” Lithgow spoke about his role as Ailes, saying, “There’s so much talk about the very good signs that there are so many great women’s stories being told. This might be one of the best because it really is about six or seven extremely different women who have extremely different experiences and the response of the crisis at Fox. I play the crisis.”
Notably, there’s already a tv show made on the Fox News sex scandal titled ‘The Loudest Voice‘ that released this year. The Showtime series has Russell Crowe in the role of Ailes and Naomi Scott as Carlson.
Check out the trailer for the film below.
