This could be one of the films that will be reaping in the nominations come awards seasons, if its backers get their way. With a prime November US release planned, it’s main issue may be if Hollywood voters see it as too critical of their industry.

Now we get our first taste with a trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The successful career of 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) comes to a crushing end when he and other Hollywood figures are blacklisted for their political beliefs. TRUMBO (directed by Jay Roach) tells the story of his fight against the U.S. government and studio bosses in a war over words and freedom, which entangled everyone in Hollywood from Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) and John Wayne to Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger.’

That’s a roundabout way of saying that in 1947, Trumbo was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) during their investigation into Communist influences in Hollywood. He refused to testify and ‘name names’, and subsequently became one of the ‘Hollywood 10′ screenwriters who were blacklisted by the studio system.

However he continued to write under pen names, winning two Oscars in the 1950s under other names for Roman Holiday and The Brave One. When he was hired to write Spartacus, Kirk Douglas insisted he be allowed to do so under his own name, which helped put an end to blacklist once and for all. [Read more…]