As we head towards the last third of 2019, there is a flood of material rushing towards us; new streaming services are being announced and an amazing number of movies are being crammed onto the calendar right up to December. It can be difficult to keep track. If you missed the trailer for BOMBSHELL this weekend, give it a look now. It covers the real-life scandal at America’s Fox News in 2016, when one of the network’s top talents Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) accused her boss, chief executive Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) of sexual misconduct. Ailes and the Network fought the growing scandal which involved accusations from other women, including news anchor Megan Kelly (Charlize Theron) who was as big a star as Carlson at the time. The Murdoch-owned Fox was, and is, a purveyor of exactly this kind of salacious reporting. Despite Fox’s best efforts to play down events, opposing networks went to town on how they covered the story and the reporters.
Unusually for this era of the tell-all trailer, these details are not contained within. This interesting piece of promotion, which is actually a “teaser” trailer, relies on tension and the presence of its stars, which include Margot Robbie, playing a fictitious producer called Kayla Pospisil. The actual story unfolded over some weeks and captured the attention of the mainstream media domestically and internationally. It was a precursor to the #metoo movement and dealt a blow to the corporate reputation of Fox News.
Jay Roach (MEET THE FOCKERS, DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS) directs. Charles Randolph (THE BIG SHORT) wrote the screenplay. Kate McKinnon, Connie Britton and Alison Janney are also in the cast.
An interesting and unrelated sidebar to all of this: all three of the leads in this trailer made Forbes’ list of Top Ten Highest-Paid Actresses this weekend. Scarlett Johannsen (not in this movie) was in first position, Kidman was fourth, Robbie at eighth and Theron at ninth.
BOMBSHELL opens in Australia January 2019.
