The first trailer for the Tom Cruise-headlined American Made has been rated and should be arriving within the next week or so. Timing-wise this makes sense, as Cruise's next starring vehicle is the Universal film franchise reboot and monster cinematic universe (aka. the Dark Universe) launchpad, The Mummy. Seeing as Universal is also producing and distributing American Made, it's to be expected that the studio would use the premiere of one Cruise tentpole to start promoting another one.

American Made is based on the stranger-than-fiction, real-life story of Barry Seal (played in the film by Cruise), a TWA pilot who was roped into helping the CIA battle the emerging communist threat in Central America in the 1980s - only to end up deep in the infamous Medellin cartel that was co-founded by Pablo Escobar. The big screen version of Seal's story was scripted by Gary Spinelli (Stash House) and directed by Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow collaborator, Doug Liman.

Trailer Track is confirming that the first American Made trailer has been rated by the BBFC and that it is "incredibly likely" that the trailer will drop online, before being attached to prints of The Mummy in theaters starting Friday, June 9th. A behind-the-scenes photograph from the ongoing post-production process for American Made has already leaked online too (you can check out the photo HERE), showing Cruise as Barry Seal dressed in his '80s-era TWA uniform and gear.

Tom Cruise and Doug Liman filming Edge of Tomorrow

American Made will be the second 2017 release for both Cruise and Liman, following on the heels of The Mummy and Liman's minimalist military action/thriller, The Wall (which hit theaters back in April). The actor/director pair have clearly developed a good working relationship, seeing as they once had plans to work together for a third time (after Edge of Tomorrow and American Made) on the original sci-fi thriller Luna Park - a project that is now indefinitely delayed - and are currently actively developing the Edge of Tomorrow sequel. That alone bodes well for American Made, in terms of the film's potential quality.

The subject matter of American Made (which was formally titled Mena) should be somewhat familiar to modern filmgoers, thanks to such projects as last year's Bryan Cranston-headlined The Infiltrator (another true story-inspired, '80s-set drama/thriller dealing with the Medellin cartel) and of course, Netflix's ongoing Pablo Escobar series, Narcos. As such, the hope is that the power duo of Cruise and Liman will be able to offer a fresh (and intriguing) perspective on that same aspect of 20th Century history.

American Made might also be the rare non-franchise title from Cruise for a while, between his upcoming roles in the Edge of Tomorrow sequel, Mission: Impossible 6 (which is currently filming) and the recently-announced Top Gun 2, on top of Cruise's potential roles in any future Dark Universe movies. For related reasons, American Made may serve as a welcome change of pace from most of the other action/thrillers that are now on the actor's to-do list.

NEXT: Edge of Tomorrow 2 Gets a Title

Source: Trailer Track

Key Release Dates