Paramount released the first trailer for Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, six months before its January 15 opening.
The first half of the trailer conveys a strong sense of menace while the second offers a montage of desperate action sequences.
The film is based on the Mitchell Zuckoff’s book “Thirteen Hours: A Firsthand Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.”
It centers on the six members of a security team who fought to defend the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi from an attack of Islamist militants on September 11, 2012, which is the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
“When everything went wrong, six men had the courage to do what was right,” the trailer notes.
The film stars James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Toby Stephens, Pablo Schreiber, Max Martini, David Denman, Dominic Fumusa, and Freddie Stroma.
Chuck Hogan wrote the script and Erwin Stoff produces through 3 Arts Entertainment’s production shingle.
Four Americans were killed in the attacks: U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith and CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty.
Filming began on April 27, 2015 in Malta and Morocco.
Bay’s Lowest-Grossing Film
Known colloquially as “the Benghazi movie,” the film was released on January 15, 2016. It grossed $69 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million (not including advertising and distribution), thus becoming Bay’s lowest-grossing film to date
While the film was praised for its acting performances, action sequences, and dark tone, the script was criticized for its historical liberties.
Oscar Record
The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Sound Mixing at the 2017 Academy Awards.
