Taraji P. Henson is trading in Cookie’s furs and jewelry for a more vintage look in the first trailer for Hidden Figures. Starring alongside Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, Henson plays just the right girl for a job that had been dominated by men — white men, especially — in this upbeat look at the true story of the African-American women who helped NASA send John Glenn into space.
More specifically, per the official 20th Century Fox synopsis:
HIDDEN FIGURES is the incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe)—brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Hidden Figures blasts off into theaters on January 13, 2017, for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend push. It’s safe to assume that Henson and co. won’t break American Sniper’s absurd and probably untouchable record for that weekend, but we should all hope that a film with a positive message and heartwarming story can do better than Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
