The first official poster for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming World War II drama Dunkirk has been released, and one thing we can definitively say about it is that it’s Christopher Nolan as fuck. The poster features a man (Tom Hardy, from the looks of it) with his back to us, staring out into an abyss of fire, smoke, and war. Grays and blues swirl around him. Debris speckles the image, just to remind you that this is indeed a serious war movie, where debris and smoke are required. Put a cape and cowl on Hardy, and he might as well be Batman, looking out onto a besieged Gotham.
But this is a movie about real-life heroes, not caped ones. Dunkirk tells the story of its titular World War II military mission, during which the Allies evacuated a bunch of soldiers from the beaches of France, hence the gloomy, war-torn beach depicted on the poster, which also refers to the operation as “the event that shaped our world.” In addition to Hardy, the film also stars Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, Harry Styles (we’re still confused about this one), and James D’Arcy.
A second, more creative yet perhaps a bit too highbrow, poster was also released today teasing the film. This one is designed to look like a throwback German propaganda poster:
Dunkirk is currently set to open on July 21, 2017, but may open earlier in 35mm and IMAX.