We’ve been getting quite a few great things coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s highly anticipated film, Contagion, over the past month, including a brilliant first trailer and UK poster.
We’ve now got three more images from the film to enjoy, courtesy of The Playlist, as well as an excellent first listen to a minute and a half of Cliff Martinez’s soundtrack for the film, from the film’s official website.
Contagion seems to be a combination of some of Soderbergh’s favourite cast and crew he’s enjoyed working with over the years, with Matt Damon heading up the awesome ensemble cast (with whom Soderbergh made the Ocean’s Trilogy and The Informant!), Scott Z. Burns penning the screenplay (who also wrote The Informant!), and Martinez composing the score (who’s worked with Soderbergh on seven films prior to Contagion). I’m always a fan of frequent collaborators, and this film is set to be another great one.
Starring alongside Damon will be the brilliant Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Marion Cotillard, and Jude Law. Did I say awesome ensemble cast, or did I say awesome ensemble cast?
“Though boasting a strong ensemble cast, the story is essentially told through the prism of three characters: everyman Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon), who loses his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and stepson to virus and remains committed to protecting his teenage daughter; CDC Deputy Director Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) who tries desperately to adapt to the fast moving virus in an effort to protect the public and freelance journalist/blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) whose breathless and alarming reporting becomes the information hub for many struggling to understand what is happening.”
Two of the three new pictures focus on Matt Damon, one with his daughter and one before a crowd, and the other shows us Marion Cotillard being whisked away from unseen danger, with Chin Han (The Dark Knight) in the image too. The first listen to Martinez’s score is exceptional too, giving us a brilliant insight into what we can expect from him. The piano touches on haunting, working against a continuous driving synth, until the piano is left alone and desolate, fading into silence. Brilliant stuff, very thematically appropriate for Contagion.
The film will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 3rd September, before being released in the States on the 9th September and here on 21st October, which is definitely a date to commit to memory, because this film looks fantastic. Without a doubt, it’s sure to be one of the year’s most interesting films, and is one of the films I’m most looking forward to in the coming months. Without further ado, here are the three new pictures from the film. If you’d like to listen to Martinez’s score, and I highly recommend you do, then click here to go to the film’s official site.
