New Trailer for 'Testament of Youth' starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington

Not every female hero in the movies has super powers; some get by on personal strength and unbreakable will. Vera Brittain was one such woman, whose story is being told in James Kent's WWI drama Testament of Youth, starring Alicia Vikander as the real life heroine whose memoir inspired this story.

Co-starring Kit Harington,  Taron Egerton, Dominic West, Emily Watson, Hayley Atwell, Jonathan Bailey, Alexandra Roach, Anna Chancellor and more, the latest trailer introduces us to Brittain, a well-known pacifist who hope to buck preconceived notions for women by attending Oxford University, only to have everything she planned disrupted by the war. As battle edges closer, she makes the decision to join the war effort as a frontline nurse, an experience that would change her perceptions forever.

Directed by James Kent, this looks like another handsomely done, impeccably acted period piece, but those are in great supply throughout the year. Testament of Youth has yet to receive a stateside date but will arrive in the U.K. on January 16th.

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Trailer for War-Torn Drama 'Testament of Youth' Starring Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington

With 2014 marking the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, you'd think more films centered on the Great War would be making the rounds, but that hasn't proven to be the case. One film that hopes to shine a spotlight on a forgotten hero of the war is Testament of Youth, which features a deep roster of top British talent, and now it also has a very impressive first trailer.

Filming only began a few days ago so having footage this soon is pretty remarkable. The film stars Alicia Vikander as renowned author and pacifist, Vera Brittain, and is based on her best-selling 1933 memoir. Brittain was an Oxford student who took time away from her studies to serve as a nurse on the frontlines after nearly everyone she loved was killed in the fighting. That was just the beginning of her story, and director James Kent hopes to tell it as a sweeping war-torn romance, with Game of Thrones' Kit Harington as Brittain's fiance. 

Also starring Hayley Atwell, Emily Watson, Taron Egerton, Dominic West, Alexandra Roach, and Anna Chancellor, Testament of Youth opens in the U.K. on January 2nd. No word on a U.S. date.

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Kevin Bacon Goes to '6 Miranda Drive'; Emily Watson Joins 'Testament of Youth'; Liam Neeson Cameos in 'Entourage'

* Kevin Bacon is apparently quite happy staying in the horror realm. The Following star and Radha Mitchell have joined 6 Miranda Drive, a small-budget horror from Wolf Creek director, Greg McLean. The story centers on “a family that unwittingly brings a fear-feeding supernatural force with them when they return from a Grand Canyon vacation.” Bacon will play the patriarch, of course, with shooting to begin next month. [THR]

* Wherever Emily Watson (Trixie, Punch-Drunk Love) goes, I will follow, and so I've just been given another reason to be excited about Testament of Youth. The historical drama stars Alicia Vikander and Kit Harington (who spoke about it briefly with me) ,  telling the true story of Vera Brittain who "postponed her studies at Oxford to serve as a nurse in the Great War, during which she lost her fiance and brother. After the war, she tried to resume her life but found herself part of a lost generation, returning to Oxford and becoming a feminist and a writer." Coming aboard with Watson is Dominic West (The Wire), with both playing Brittain's parents. [DailyMail]

* We hinted at it last night but since every site is boasting it in their headline, we'll just post it here. Liam Neeson will be making a cameo in the Entourage movie, having been spotted on set by The Wrap and other outlets. In one image he's seen giving the finger to Jeremy Piven, meaning he's likely playing himself in a confrontation with Ari Gold. Neeson is just one of many celebrity cameos in Doug Ellin's big screen version of his hit HBO series, which is due to hit theaters June 12th 2015.

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Greta Gerwig Cast in 'The Humbling'; Alexandra Daddario goes to 'San Andreas'; Kit Harington Leads 'Testament of Youth'

* Here's one that you may have forgotten. A few years ago, back before Al Pacino and director Barry Levinson were going to team for that Gotti film (Levinson dropped out of it), they were set to unite for The Humbling, an adaptation of Philip Roth's book about "an aging actor who has an affair with a lesbian woman half his age at a secluded country house in Connecticut". Not much was heard about it, but the movie is now in post-production and has been picked up by Millennium Films with Greta Gerwig and Dianne Wiest joining the cast.  Charles Grodin, Kyra Sedgewick, Dan Hedaya, Nina Arianda, and Billy Porter co-star, and presumably we'll see this by the end of the year. [Variety]

* If you've been keeping up with True Detective (I'm still an episode behind, so sue me), then you've seen Alexandra Daddario having her way with one Mr. Woody Harrelson. Now she'll get to hang out with Dwayne Johnson in 3D disaster flick San Andreas, directed by Brad Peyton. Johnson plays a chopper pilot attempting to rescue his estranged daughter after California is devastated by a massive Earthquake. Daddario, who also starred in two Percy Jackson films, is apparently being sought for a role in the Entourage movie.  [Deadline]

* Pompeii and Game of Thrones star Kit Harington will join Alicia Vikander in Testament of Youth, an adaptation of Vera Brittain's WWI memoir. Published in 1933, the book recounted how Britain's world was thrown upside down when the war took the lives of her fiance and brother, forcing her to become a nurse on the sidelines. After the fighting stopped, she attempted to regain her life and became a prominent feminist and writer. Vikander will play Brittain, having replaced the previously-cast Saoirse Ronan, with Harington as her fiance. David Heyman (Harry Potter franchise) is producing with James Kent directing. [THR]

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