One month after anchoring the successful comic superhero film, Suicide Squad, global superstar Will Smith returns to familiar ground in the once troubled, heart-stirring drama, Collateral Beauty.
The film tells the story of a depressed ad executive whose colleagues hatch a plan to break him out of his poor mental state, but plans don’t go as expected. During these events, he encounters three mysterious people (Keira Knightley, Jacob Latimore, Helen Mirren) who encourage him to forget about the past while his friends (Edward Norton, Michael Peña, Kate Winslet) try to help him get back on track with his life.
The film has already gone through its share of ups and downs. Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara were once attached as leads, with Jackman pulling out in last July due to scheduling conflicts with the Wolverine 3 film. The film also lost its original director, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), due to creative differences with the studio.
While actors and directors drifting into and out of the orbit of movies is certainly not unusual or new, when it happens so close to filming it makes people start to wonder if the movie will ever actually get off the ground. And, once it does, if it will end up being worth all the apparent trouble it took to get made.
Featuring an all-star cast, a prime release date and an emotionally powerful story, reminiscent of Smith’s earlier film, Seven Pounds, the question is will this film be a “beauty” come awards season?
Collateral Beauty opens in theaters on December 16, 2016.
Check out the trailer below: