Corona | Coming Attractions

The second and presumably final trailer for The Road is now out in theaters and online via Yahoo. Watch it below:

The Road has been pushed back again from October 16 to a November 25, 2009 date. That's American Thanksgiving long weekend and the movie will be going up against Ninja Assassin, Old Dogs, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and the New York/Los Angeles openings of Disney's The Princess and the Frog.

The first trailer for The Road has debuted at Yahoo Movies. Coming in at 2 minutes, 31 seconds, this is what fans of Cormac McCarthy's novel have been waiting to see: were the filmmakers able capture the mood, the essence, the feel of the novel? Judge for yourself:

A lengthy article about the making of The Road has gone online at Esquire's website. Written by Tom Chiarella, the piece focuses mainly on where the film is now in its post-production and how the filmmakers and the studio are thinking about the marketing campaign of the film including what kind of trailer we'll eventually see. It also seems apparent that Chiarella has seen the film and has some heavy thoughts about it:

"The Road is no tease. It is a brilliantly directed adaptation of a beloved novel, a delicate and anachronistically loving look at the immodest and brutish end of us all. You want them to get there, you want them to get there, you want them to get there — and yet you do not want it, any of it, to end.

"You should see it for the simplest of reasons: Because it is a good story. Not because it may be important. Not because it is unforgettable, unyielding. Not because it horrifies. Not because the score is creepily spiritual. Not because it is littered with small lines of dialogue you will remember later. Not because it contains warnings against our own demise. All of that is so. Don't see it just because you loved the book. The movie stands alone. Go see it because it's two small people set against the ugly backdrop of the world undone. A story without guarantees. In every moment — even the last one — you'll want to know what happens next, even if you can hardly stand to look. Because The Road is a story about the persistence of love between a father and a son, and in that way it's more like a remake of The Godfather than some echo of I Am Legend.

"Only this one is different: You won't want to see this one twice."

Read Esquire's article about The Road.

Dimension Films has finally slotted The Road for a release on October 16, 2009. An early Oscar contender, perhaps?

A Flickr account shows us 72 "style frames" created to give the filmmakers of The Road a visual template for their film. Created by a variety of artists employed by the production, the artwork gave director Joe Hillcoat and his team an illustrative map for the kind of looks they wanted their movie to have: bleak, desolate, burned out urban and rural landscapes where all the hope has been snuffed out by the world. It's amazing work.

An audio program profiling the adaptation of The Road has been produced by BBC Radio. You can listen to screenwriter Joe Penhall talk about how Cormac McCarthy reacted to the adaptation, but perhaps the bigger news is that actual excepts from the movie's soundtrack are presented for the very first time near the conclusion of the segment. For those of you that want to get an idea as to how the film will sound, it's a must to listen to it.

An enthusiastic review from someone that attended a test screening of The Road has gone up at Ain't It Cool News. For those of us that have read Cormac McCarthy's novel and had reservations about how the world and character relationships in The Road would be brought to the screen, read this small portion of the review:

"The movie sucks you into a completely different world and it's nearly impossible to peel yourself away from it for it's duration. As slow-paced as this movie can be, like in the book, there are riviting moments that will make you jump out of your seat with disgust, excitment, and suspense. These moments are spaced out perfectly and with each one you are pulled in further into the horror being presented."

If the review is a plant, it's a good one. If it's legit, it's great news. Read the full review.

CineFools spoke with The Road producer Steve Schwartz and asked him the pressing question: hey, what's going on with the release of your movie? Schwartz couldn't give the site a definitive answer as to when we can now expect to see the picture but he did say that all work on The Road has been completed and it's ready to be shown.

Also, the site has a new photo of Mortensen and Smit-McPhee that we haven't seen before.