The fastest way to get you oriented with respect to Robert Zemeckis’ new movie “The Walk” starring Joseph Gordon Levitt would be to point you to James Marsh’s astonishing documentary “Man On Wire” which won the Academy Award in 2008 for Best Documentary. Playing out like a particularly riveting thriller, the doc concerns an illegal wire walk between the World Trade Center towers in 1974 pulled off by daredevil and young French dreamer Philippe Petit. Based on Petit’s book “To Reach the Clouds,” which basically tells the same story as the doc, Zemeckis’ drama stars stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young Petit. Here’s the official synopsis:
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan. Robert Zemeckis, the director of such marvels as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future, Polar Express and Flight, again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story. With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry, The Walk is true big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. The film is a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, but most of all, to the Towers of the World Trade Center.
Co-starring Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, Clément Sibony, César Domboy, Benedict Samuel, Ben Schwartz and Steve Valentine, The Walk” will be released on October 2nd and as we speak the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the film will make its world premiere as the opening night selection of the upcoming 53rd New York Film Festival. Watch the new trailer below.