Based on the real life events recounted in the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures is set to become a veritable Oscar contender this year. Directed by Theodore Melfi (St. Vincent) and co-written by Allison Schroeder, the movie stars Taraji P. Henson (Empire) as NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson; who alongside her colleagues Dorothy Vaughn (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), assists the U.S. in catching up to Russia in the Space Race and provides astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) with the calculations needed to make his (first) orbit around the Earth.
Having previously delivered a heartwarming comedy/drama in the form of St. Vincent, Hidden Figures will see Melfi up his game as a director by bringing one of the more remarkable tales of American ingenuity (one that transcends the boundaries of race and gender) to life on the big screen. The film itself continues to look promising too, if the latest trailer for Hidden Figures is any indication.
In the footage featured above, distributor 20th Century Fox promises potential viewers a stirring historical drama in Hidden Figures that depicts its three female protagonists as the central forces for scientific progress and professional ambition. Featuring such names as Kevin Costner (Man of Steel), Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), and Kirsten Dunst (Fargo) as members of its supporting cast, Melfi's latest directorial effort continues to show real promise.
Octavia Spencer is already an Oscar-winning actress and her co-stars Henson and Monáe are equally talented performers - whose respective bodies of work make them more than suited to take on such a high-minded historical drama as Hidden Figures. In seeking to tell such an important and relatively unknown story of perseverance that serves to highlight the integrity of every American citizen regardless of race, gender, or creed, Melfi's latest drama should manage to draw a crowd when it sees release come Christmas Day.
Only time will tell whether or not potential viewers will line up in droves to see Hidden Figures when it sees release later next month, but with any luck the alluring power of Henson, Spenser, and Monáe's performances will manage to attract a sizable crowd. The December pack of late-arriving awards season contenders is a competitive lot (one that includes Live By Night, A Monster Calls and Silence, among others), so hopefully Hidden Figures will be able to find room for itself to thrive too.
Source: 20th Century Fox
