Barry Jenkins’ ‘The Underground Railroad’ Limited Series Looks Awe-Inspiring In Amazon’s Trailer

After Amazon revealed a stunning teaser for The Underground Trailer limited series, they’re going all-out with an astonishing, awe-inspiring trailer for the limited series. One of the biggest attractions to this project, of course, is Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk, Moonlight) in the director’s seat while helming a 10-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. It’s an expansive project and one that Amazon saw fit to entrust to the Oscar winner, and the even better news is that Jenkins is not only showrunning but directing the entire season. Also, Brad Pitt’s executive producing here through his Plan B production company.

The story is an expansive one (and oh, that gorgeous cinematography), chronicling Cora Randall (newcomer Thuso Mbedu) as she makes a desperate bid for freedom, and she’s pursued by a bounty hunter, Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), who not only wishes to complete his straight-up mission by returning Cora to a Georgia plantation but to settle a personal score. That is to say, Cora’s mother is the only slave who Ridgeway was never able to capture. This trailer also gives us a few wonderful peeks at William Jackson Harper’s character, Royal, who was born free and helps guide Cora along part of her journey. From the synopsis:

The Underground Railroad chronicles Cora Randall’s (newcomer Thuso Mbedu) desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil… As she travels from state to state, Cora contends with the legacy of the mother that left her behind and her own struggles to realize a life she never thought was possible.

The limited series also co-stars Thuso Mbedu, Chase W. Dillon, Aaron Pierre, Lily Rabe, Will Poulter, Sheila Atim, Amber Gray, Peter De Jersey, Chukwudi Iwuji, Damon Herriman (a.k.a., “Dewey Crowe” from Justified), Irone Singleton, Mychal-Bella Bowman, Marcus “MJ” Gladney, Jr., and Peter Mullan.

Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad premieres on May 14.

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