One week after watching extended clips of this movie at the NABJ, the trailer for Hidden Figures was released this evening during the Olympics. This inspirational story should be in the thick of the awards race this season.
Hidden Figures spotlights the true story of the African-American mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) and her two colleagues, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), who helped NASA catch up in the Space Race. Using their calculations, John Glenn became the first American astronaut to make a complete orbit of the Earth.
The clips we had the opportunity to watch expound on that story to explore the difficulties and challenges each woman had to overcome but the countless people who encouraged them through their struggles. Author Margo Lee Shetterly and cast member Aldis Hodge spoke about the film during the clip presentation of the story.
Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent) directs the film from a screenplay co-written with Allison Schroeder, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Shetterly. The film stars Henson, Spencer, Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, and Jim Parsons.
Hidden Figures will be released on January 13, 2017, but FOX 2000 will probably qualify it for an Oscar run by releasing it in limited release in late December – we’ll let you know!
Check out the trailer below: