The Weinstein Company has released two TV spots and a featurette for Precious director Lee Daniels’ new film The Butler.
The film is based on the true story of Cecil Gaines, a butler who served at the White House from 1952 to 1986. And sees the many different powerful historical figures that visited and inhabited that famous house throughout that time-period from the eyes of those who served them.
Forrest Whitaker is in the lead role with an exceptional cast that boasts Alan Rickman, Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Mariah Carey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Minka Kelly, Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Leo, James Marsden, Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Redgrave, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Williams.
The Butler is out in the US on October 18th and we’ll probably get it closer to January.
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqahPPR-vAA’]
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSitFKWziHk’]
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMUB4vD3Vik’]
The Butler, based on the screenplay by Danny Strong & Lee Daniels, is inspired by Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about an African-American man who served as a butler (Whitaker) to eight Presidents in the White House for over thirty years. From this unique vantage point, THE BUTLER traces the dramatic changes that swept American society, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man’s life and family.