'Free State Of Jones' Trailer: Matthew McConaughey Gives The Confederacy Hell

After fighting for the freedom of illegal slaves in Steven Spielberg's period courtroom drama Amistad, this time Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey is taking on the Confederacy head-on in Free State of Jones. The film sees McConaughey leading the true story of Southern farmer Newt Knight who turns against the Confederacy that he once fought for and attempts to turn Jones County, Mississippi into a free state. And now the first Free State of Jones trailer shows off the epic Civil War drama.

Here's the first Free State of Jones trailer from STX Entertainment:

While I'm exactly a fan of this trailer, mostly because it seems to give away a little too much, especially with that scene during the funeral at the church. That's something that should have been saved for the movie. However, I think footage like that is being used to sell this as having more action than might actually be in the movie.

There's a recent profile from The New Yorker on STX Entertainment mentioning how they spent an extra $500,000 to get more extras and cameras on hand for the opening battle sequence in order to have "enough huge Civil War action to justify the more intimate movie that follows." So much for just letting the movie speak for itself, but the article on STX provides some great insight into the entertainment industry right now, and I recommend reading it in full.

Even though this isn't all that great of a trailer, the true story of Newt Knight is fascinating enough for me to at least be interested in seeing the movie. Giving it a May release date is pretty bold as well, so the movie must be pretty good, right? At the very least we get to hear Matthew McConaughey use that sultry Southern accent of his, which is something that I think both men and women can enjoy.

Written and directed by four-time Oscar nominee Gary Ross (The Hunger Games, Seabiscuit, Pleasantville), and starring Oscar® winner Matthew McConaughey, Free State of Jones is an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, distinguishing him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.

Free State of Jones arrives on May 13th.