The Captive State trailer reveals more plot details for Rupert Wyatt’s sci-fi thriller. Wyatt made a splash stateside with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a film that successfully revived the Planet of the Apes franchise. Since then, however, he’s arguably made more headlines for projects he’s stepped away from, rather than actually directed. Case in point: Wyatt was attached to helm Gambit a few years back, but eventually left Fox’s (still indefinitely delayed) X-Men spinoff. He also departed Showtime’s Halo TV show this past week, after being set to direct multiple episodes and serve as a producer.

Fortunately, Wyatt has Captive State all-but done and ready to hit theaters next March. The film is an original sci-fi project that takes place primarily in Chicago, ten years after an extraterrestrial force started its occupation of planet earth. Focus Features began its marketing for the movie a few months back, but has only now released a full-length Captive State trailer online, ahead of its premiere in theaters later this month.

Wheres the original Captive State teaser trailer focused on earth’s alien occupiers in the film, the second teaser highlighted The Phoenix: a human resistance group that (what else?) rises against the other-worldly invaders during Wyatt’s movie. The official Captive State trailer dives far deeper into the film’s actual narrative, which Wyatt wrote with his screenwriter wife Erica Beeney (The Battle of Shaker Heights). Take a look in the space below.

Based on the new trailer, John Goodman is playing one of the people who cooperates with earth’s alien occupants in the film, rather than a member of The Phoenix. Meanwhile, Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, The Equalizer 2) costars here as Gabriel, a young man who finds himself being pulled in multiple directions as both Goodman’s character and members of The Phoenix vie to get him to join their side. It would appear that Gabriel eventually becomes a member of The Resistance, but this might just be the Captive State trailers trying to mislead everyone.

All in all, Captive State continues to look like an intriguing (and more than a little intense) sci-fi allegory, gauging by the trailers. The film’s aliens are similarly unique in their anatomical designs, based on the glimpses we’ve gotten of them so far. It might even be for the better that Wyatt has stepped away from as many franchise movies and TV series as he has - if it means he spends his time making (hopefully) original and thought-provoking genre fare like Captive State, instead.

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Source: Focus Features

  • Captive State Release Date: 2019-03-15