An international trailer has been released for Patricia Riggen’s English-language Chilean mining drama “The 33.” The film is, of course, based on a true event — the 69-day struggle to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground in the aftermath of a mining accident.
The 2010 tragedy was an international news sensation. Not to belittle the very real suffering that these men and their loved ones endured, but the story is very cinematic and was bound to be adapted for the big screen. So, five years later, we have the first trailer, which shows that the film will focus not only on the men struggling to survive within the mine, but also on their family members and the rescuers scrambling behind the scenes to rescue the imperiled workers. The lead character seems to be Mario Sepúlveda (Antonio Banderas), a miner set to retire after one last day of work — which happens to be the ill-fated day the mine collapse.
“We’re all ready to get out of here, or die trying,” announces one of the miners. The inspirational tale about overcoming the odds through teamwork, love, and perseverance doesn’t have a US release date yet (we hear that it might be in October), but it’s set to open in Chile on August 6.