Bill Nighy hunts down a violent killer in the first trailer for British mystery film The Limehouse Golem. Director Juan Carlos Medina's horror-thriller, based on Peter Ackroyd's 1994 novel Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, tells the story of detective John Kildare (Bill Nighy) as he tracks down a serial killer in the Limehouse district of 1880s London. The killer is so ruthless that citizens become convinced that only the mythical creature known as a Golem could be capable of such violence -- hence, the name Limehouse Golem.
The film finished principal photography back in Nov. 2015, and didn't have its world premiere until the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival last September. But the long process to get The Limehouse Golem its wide release is one step closer, as the U.K. release date is set for Sept. 1 and the first trailer is finally available.
Lionsgate Films U.K. premiered the trailer for The Limehouse Golem, giving the first extended glimpse at Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) in action and the mystery he's tasked with solving. Nighy is in nearly every scene in the trailer as the tenacious investigator, who encounters a wide range of potential suspects and plenty of unpredictable twists and turns as he tries to unravel the mystery and catch the Limehouse Golem.
The Limehouse Golem also stars Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) as Elizabeth Cree and Douglas Booth (Jupiter Ascending) as Dan Leno, the character named in the title of Ackroyd's original novel. Nighy only joined the project as John Kildare after the untimely death of Alan Rickman, who was originally set to play the main character.
It's unfortunate that Nighy had to fill in for the lead role after the tragedy of Rickman's death, caused by pancreatic cancer at age 69. But the actor's persona is a good fit for the character of John Kildare and his performance in The Limehouse Golem looks to have tour-de-force potential. The film has strong source material to draw from and appears to be as layered and unpredictable as the novel that precedes it.
The performances and visuals of The Limehouse Golem look like standouts from the trailer, but it remains to be seen whether the script by Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Secret Service) lives up to the standard set by Ackroyd's novel. It's also unknown whether Nighy can deliver the kind of performance that would have been expected from the late Rickman. But there is some serious talent involved here and the first trailer certainly looks promising.
The Limehouse Golem has no U.S. release date set, but is expected to premiere in the U.K. on Sept. 1.
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Source: Lionsgate Films UK