‘Empire of Light’: Thoughts? [Trailer]

The trailer for Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” has just been released. It definitely looks beautiful, Roger Dealins photographed this one and his imprint is all over it.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are scoring this one as well.

This has Best Picture and Best Actress potential written all over it. Toby Jones’ monologue is a little too schmaltzy. During a time when the future of cinema is being debated you have filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes and Kenneth Branagh making films about how they fell in love with the medium.

Of course, with Mendes you just never know what you’re going to get. The British filmmaker does tend to hit the mark with critics more so than not (“American Beauty,” “Skyfall,” “Road to Perdition,” “1917”). He’s also had his fair share of duds (“Spectre,” “Jarhead,” “Away We Go”).

Something tells me “Empire of Light” will belong in the former category. Starring Olivia Colman and Colin Firth, the film is said to be a love story set in an English coastal cinema during the 1980s.

“Empire of Light” is set for a Telluride world premiere and will then after screen at Toronto and London. This one could be a big deal.