When Warner Bros. set a November release date for Patricia Riggen's Chilean miner drama, The 33, it came with the expectation that the film was being primed for an Oscars run. But there hasn't been that kind of push from the studio as of yet, and its lack of presence on the fall festival slate is telling. Whatever the case, the film still looks like a hopeful and uplifting recreation of events surrounding the real-life 2010 disaster.
Starring an impressive cast comprised of Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rodrigo Santoro, Naomi Scott, James Brolin, Gabriel Byrne and more, the film tells the story of the 33 miners who were trapped for 69 days after a cave-in at the San Jose copper mine in August 2010. Riggen shot the film in Chile and Colombia at real working mines to add an extra layer of authenticity in depicting the struggle of the miners and those who tirelessly worked to save them. Here's the official synopsis:
In 2010, the eyes of the world turned to Chile, where 33 miners had been buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a 100-year-old gold and copper mine. Over the next 69 days, an international team worked night and day in a desperate attempt to rescue the trapped men as their families and friends, as well as millions of people globally, waited and watched anxiously for any sign of hope. But 200 stories beneath the surface, in the suffocating heat and with tensions rising, provisions—and time—were quickly running out. A story of resilience, personal transformation and triumph of the human spirit, the film takes us to the Earth’s darkest depths, revealing the psyches of the men trapped in the mine, and depicting the courage of both the miners and their families who refused to give up. Based on the gripping true story of survival—and filmed with the cooperation of the miners, their families and their rescuers—“The 33” reveals the never-before-seen actual events that unfolded, above and below ground, which became nothing less than a worldwide phenomenon.
The 33 opens on November 13th.
