How do you follow up a movie that won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Director? Go even bigger and bolder.
That’s exactly what Nightmare Alley appears to be in its first teaser. It’s the first film from Guillermo del Toro since his big Awards Season sweep in 2017 for The Shape of Water. With Oscar gold as leverage, del Toro looks to have crafted something more grand and ambitious.
Based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley follows a carnival mentalist (Bradley Cooper) who rises to stardom as he targets millionaires for money, but his schemes may be revealed by a cunning femme fatale psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett).
Despite his track record of working in horror and the supernatural, del Toro has clarified that Nightmare Alley pedals in neither. Instead, this is his first foray into film noir, albeit one that explores the genre on its gothic fringes, i.e. territory that del Toro is very familiar with and drawn to.
For more about the film including exclusive first look photos from Vanity Fair, click here.
Co-starring Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman and David Strathairn, Nightmare Alley opens in theaters this holiday season on December 17, 2021.
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Bradley Cooper stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett star in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Toni Collette co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Willem Dafoe co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Rooney Mara co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
A carnival in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Bradley Cooper stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Willem Dafoe co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Willem Dafoe co-stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Bradley Cooper and Toni Collette co-star in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
A marquee promotes a mysterious show in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
A snowy apparition in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
Bradley Cooper stars in Guillermo del Toro’s gothic film noir NIGHTMARE ALLEY (2021)
