As Jake La Motta grumbled in Raging Bull, "how long I gotta wait?" Martin Scorsese first started developing Shūsaku Endō's historical novel Silence way back in 1990. A mere twenty-four years later, after years of development hell and a constantly changing cast, the cameras finally started to roll. And now, with barely a month until release, we now have the first trailer.
Set in the seventeenth century, Silence follows the true story of Jesuit missionaries in Japan. Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play two young priests who attempt to find an older priest (Liam Neeson) accused of abandoning his faith.
Silence is being given a limited release rollout in the US from 23 December, which places it just within the Oscar deadline – meaning the studio has big awards-based expectations. Just from the scope and the scale of this trailer alone, we'd be very surprised if it didn't at least sweep up a nomination or two.
Whatever its awardsy prospects, Silence arrives in UK on 1 January, and will also earn a wider US release that month.