The Coen Brothers returned in early 2016 with new comedy, Hail, Caesar!, taking a backwards look at the mad, bad and faddish world of Hollywood Cinema of the 1950s. It’s got an all-star cast that includes George Clooney (Tomorrowland), Scarlett Johansson (Captain America: Civil War) and Josh Brolin (Gangster Squad), and a whirlwind of a trailer behind it, which you can watch below.
Release date
Cinema: The movie had a UK release date of Friday the 4th March 2016, following up on its US release on the 5th Feb. However, with the likes of Deadpool, Zoolander 2, Point Break, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, Goosebumps and Dad’s Army all out around the same time, it had its work cut out for itself at the box office.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download: the film will be making its way to home entertainment in summer 2016 with a UK release date on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download of the 11th July. It arrives a little earlier in the US, but the date hasn’t been confirmed as of yet.
Story
The plot of Hail, Caesar! revolves around the production of a film of the same name in 1950s Hollywood with Tinsel Town’s biggest name, Baird Whitlock (Clooney), taking the leading role. When he’s kidnapped with a ransom request of $100,000 from an organisation calling itself The Future, the film starts to look like it’s in trouble, so fixer, Eddie Mannix (Brolin), is brought in to try to smooth over the cracks with the press and hunt down the missing star in time to get the production back on its feet.
With one of the studio’s leading ladies (Johansson) to look after, following the arrival of her baby out of wedlock, and a raft of darlings, lovvies and up-and-coming talent to keep on the right track, Mannix has got his work cut out for him. It’s made all the more problematic when you take into account the fact that it’s all going to go down in just a single day and the missing star isn’t the only fix he’ll need to finesse.
Cast
In addition to Clooney, Brolin and Johansson, the film also stars Ralph Fiennes (SPECTRE) as a big name film director, Tilda Swinton (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as one of Hollywood’s nosiest gossip writers, and Channing Tatum (Jupiter Ascending) as a young actor on his way up. The cast also includes Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo Movie), Jonah Hill (This Is The End) and brilliantly Christopher Lambert of Highlander fame.
The cast looks incredible in the trailer below and you can check out our review below to find out how well Josh Brolin, George Clooney and Scarlett Johansson worked out. It’s the fourth Coen Brothers outing for Clooney and Brolin is hot on his tail now with his third collaboration following up on the incredible triumph that was No Country For Old Men and True Grit. Johansson has also featured in one of their movies previously too, 2001’s The Man Who Wasn’t There and Tilda Swinton has also put in a shift with them in Burn After Reading.
Production
Hail, Caesar! is the latest comedy outing from Joel and Ethan Coen, who have written, directed and produced the film, making such a mammoth feat appear easy. The production credits are added to by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, with the film being produced by the brothers’ Mike Zoss Productions, along with Working Title Films, who Bevan and Fellner are co-chairman of.
Review
We were massively looking forward to the prospect of Hail, Caesar!, but mixed reviews following it’s release earlier in the year did a lot to sow the seed of doubt. However, it turned out to be an entertaining jaunt and while it didn’t re-write the book, it’s very clever in its use of comedy to highlight the differences between the world of cinema then and now. The cast is pretty impressive with the stars playing roles that are at odds with their previous movies, which works very well. The Coen Brothers always produce excellent work, and it’s definitely one to add to your watch-list if you haven’t already seen it, but it’s not quite as stand-out brilliant as some of their previous comedies. Read our full Hail, Caesar! review for more details.
