Law Abiding Citizen First Trailer

Law Abiding Citizen header

The first trailer has recently appeared online for the upcoming Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx drama-thriller, Law Abiding Citizen. We got our first look at the movie a few days ago with two posters which didn’t quite give off the same vibe that this first trailer does.

The film stars Gerard Butler as a man whose wife and daughter are brutally murdered and after a defense attorney (Foxx) cuts a deal, the killer walks. After taking revenge on the killer by (ironically enough) murdering him, Butler’s character is imprisoned himself. However, it seems he somehow is still managing to rack up the body count, even from within prison.

There’s been quite a bit of hassle going on behind-the-scenes with Law Abiding Citizen (as our friends over at /Film have pointed out): a rewrite to the script and change of director both occured before the film moved into production. It was originally written by Equilibrium screenwriter, Kurt Wimmer, with Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) handling the rewrite. The latter was apparently also tapped to direct, but after he left the project it was handed over to F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job).

What the trailer shows is a bit different to the previous synopsis listed. Not quite sure why. Anyway, check out the trailer below:

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As I said, the trailer seems to show something quite different from what was given as the previous synopsis (there was apparently several summaries that told conflicting tales about which actor was playing which character). Maybe it’s just the studio trying to market the film as something a bit more fast-paced and “edgy” than it really is, but the trailer sure does make it look more like a thriller when I had a bit more of a drama in mind. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting a total lack of action scenes, but from the looks of the trailer there’s a lot more than I had anticipated.

I’m looking forward to seeing Gerard Butler in an intense role, seeing him in so many post-300 Rom Coms (P.S. I Love You, The Ugly Truth). Even though Butler did do Guy Ritchie’s gangster flick, RocknRolla (amongst others), I still would like to see him in the type of role he looks to be playing in Law Abiding Citizen. The guy has talent and not just as a physical action actor (though he does look kick-ass in the upcoming Gamer).

The trailer doesn’t play up the “face off” angle between Butler and Jamie Foxx’s character as much as I thought it would, but we may see that in some of the later trailers that will inevitably get released. Butler and Foxx is an interesting pairing that I never would have thought of – I’m curious to see how well they work together.

What do you think of this trailer?

Law Abiding Citizen hits theaters on October 16th, 2009, in the US and on March 26th, 2010, in the UK.

Sources: Apple and /Film

Tags: law abiding citizen

Ken J

Wow, that looks pretty crazy actually... Jamie Foxx is getting pwned, lol.

Kevin S

This movie looks amazing. I read the previous synopsis and the only difference i can see is that hes not an everyday man, something to do with the CIA. At first i thought it was going to be another one of those oh guy loses everything gets revenge things but when he got arrested and the trailer progressed i was like HOLY SH*T this is a great idea and i already wanted to know how it played out. I'm glad that i haven't heard of this movie until now cuz i'd hate to have to wait long to see it(Thanks alot Iron man 2 leaked footage).

The real Joe

This seems like a sick movie. Can't wait.

Looking at Gerald, he would have made an awesome Punisher. I'm also looking forward to Gamer.

RastaZen

Wow , this looks reeeeeeally cool , I'm excited to see this one.

@ The real Joe - you called it dude !!! Butler could be an awesome punisher :)

RastaZen

when is this one opening ?
anyone know ?

Vic Holtreman

Oh... yeah. 8-)

Vic

Vic Holtreman

@Rastazen

It's at the bottom of the post. :)

Vic

RastaZen

yep , there it is ..........:)
thanks Vic.

Stephen

Well this looked interesting before but now it looks awesome. Went from a maybe to a definite see in my book. :D

Michaela

Three Gerry movies in a year. I feel so spoiled. lol Keep up the great work, Gerry!

Steve

yeah he makes a good villian type. That just looks damn good.

Foopher

Gerard Butler rocks and this looks like a pretty cool movie. Hope i can get around to see it

Aaron

I love seeing the gov get screwed for screwing the innocent : )

Ken J

LOL Aaron, I see it as a statement about how the justice system makes it too hard or sometimes impractical to provide complete justice, how so much is required by the prosecuting side to convict murderers like the character in this film that sometimes less-than-moral prosecutors (all lawyers as scumbags, prosecutors and defense, but especially defense lawyers) sometimes feel inclined to make deals with guilty parties just so they can "win" the case. If our justice system worked the way it SHOULD work, as in someone is arrested for murder, the are put to trial, evidense is presented, if he/she is proven guilty, they execute them within a year. None of this sitting on death row for 25 years with unlimited appeals BS wasting millions and millions of dollars with each appeal, making prosecuting people almost not worth the money sometimes...

If that was the case, not only would more people be fully prosecuted to the extent of the law since we will be able to afford to, but there will be less crime because people won't consider our justice system a joke anymore. In China, drug trafficking is punishable by death. And it's not a long process, you get caught, they bring you to an execution grounds, and they shoot you in the head. And you wonder why there's so much less drug trafficking over there...

Plea bargains, like the one made in this movie, help both the defendent and the state. I don't like them because it is definitely a compromise every time (resulting in a lesser punishment than the defendent deserves), but it seems to me it's the system that makes that almost a necessity.

Steve Felt

A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!

I was one of the corrections officers and on set for a few weeks and its so refreshing to see something you work on come to life. Great job guys!

SkyK1nG

Gerard Butler is off the chain man, there aren't many actors that I can stand in just about any type of movie, but Gerard is definitely one of them. This is gonna be unreal.

BloodSucking Leech

I can't wait for this! First Gamer and then this the next month! Ya, it definitely a bit different in the description now. I thought he was an ordinary citizen. He's so intense!

lindar

Pardon the late posting. Just had to add a comment since the buzz on Law Abiding Citizen has become even better since the last postings. The only reason I haven't ordered my tickets is that they aren't available yet.