Is there a desire to relive the worst man-made disaster in our history? Maybe if Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg tell the story, there is. The duo seem to have an affinity for tragic true stories, recently pairing up for Lone Survivor and the upcoming Boston Marathon bombing drama, Patriots Day. And now with Deepwater Horizon they'll tackle the 2010 environmental catastrophe that killed 11 people and injured even more.
The film centers on the men and women aboard the BP oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, which exploded on April 20th 2010, springing a leak that would spill for 87 straight days before it was finally capped. This trailer focuses on Wahlberg's character and his home life with his wife (Kate Hudson) and daughter, the latter teasing the eventual disaster by reciting lines from her school report on daddy's job. And then we see flashes of the other men aboard the vessel as they began to realize that something isn't quite right.
As usual, Berg has surrounded Wahlberg with a strong cast led by John Malkovich, Dylan O'Brien, Kurt Russell, and Gina Rodriguez. The film was once a project spearheaded by J.C. Chandor but disputes over the creative direction, probably meaning producers wanted more action, led to Berg taking the reins. One wonders if the script implicates BP for their questionable safety standards which has led to them shelling out $18B in a settlement with the government and more than $50B in clean-up costs.
Deepwater Horizon opens September 30th.
