First Trailer for The Great Gatsby Reveals a Visual Spectacle Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and (Musically) Jay-Z
Posted 05.23.12 by Ryan
1922. Nosferatu was released. Construction on Yankee Stadium began in the Bronx. Insulin first successfully treated diabetes. And Jack White and Jay-Z ruled the radio airwaves...wait, what? Well, at least, that's the case in the first trailer for director Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel, Luhrmann's adaptation isn't the first to make it to the big screen. It is, however, the first to make it in 3-D. While Fitzgerald's story of love and class warfare doesn't seem like a natural fit for eye-popping effects, the first Great Gatsby trailer showcases the lavish spectacle Luhrmann has in store for audiences. Luhrmann's visual style is no secret to anyone that has seen his 1996 version of Romeo & Juliet or 2001's Moulin Rouge. Both also featured an eclectic soundtrack.
The trailer also briefly introduces Leonardo DiCaprio as the title character, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, Joel Edgerton as Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan, and Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway. For those that didn't have to read it in school, here's the official synopsis of The Great Gatsby.
From the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann comes the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. The filmmaker will create his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before, in a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. The Great Gatsby follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super-rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.
Adapted by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge), The Great Gatsby co-stars Isla Fisher as Buchanan's mistress, Myrtle; Callan McAuliffe (I Am Number Four) as a young Gatsby; and Gemma Ward (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Catherine, Myrtle's sister.
Next Showing: The Great Gatsby opens December 25