A first look at Run This Town — the long awaited film revolving around Rob Ford‘s extremely turbulent and final year in office as Toronto’s mayor — has been revealed, in the form of a teaser.
The late-Canadian politician served as Toronto’s 64th mayor between 2010 and 2014. He died at the age of 46 on March 22, 2016 after a battle with cancer.
The one-minute-25-second trailer dropped on Friday morning and first and foremost, shows that Run This Town is not exactly a biopic about Ford, but rather a “political thriller” following three fictional millennials attempting to expose the controversial leader.
Ben Platt stars as one of them, Bram Shriver, who is an up-and-coming journalist more interested in pursuing investigative writing, rather than the fluffy pieces he’s commissioned to write for the local paper, according to South by Southwest film festival — where Run This Town premiered last March.
After catching wind of a potentially groundbreaking story that could expose Ford (Damien Lewis), Shriver meets Ashley Pollock (Nina Dobrev) and befriends Kamal Arafa (Mena Massoud) — Ford’s right-hand man.
Platt’s character seems to take on the role of ex-Toronto Star reporter Robyn Doolittle, the author of biography Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story and one of the most preeminent journalists covering Ford’s mayorship and private life.
Back in 2018, after Platt, 26, was cast for the role, Doolittle expressed her disappointment, tweeting, “Why have a woman be a lead character when a man could do it?”
For those unaware, Doolittle was one of the first journalists to delve deep into Ford’s life and is widely credited (along with a few other reporters, including John Cook of defunct publication Gawker) with helping break the now-infamous crack scandal in 2013.
Whether the “tense cat-and-mouse game” plot pertains to Ford’s scandal — where a private video surfaced of him smoking crack cocaine — however, is currently unclear.
Massoud, 28, who is best known for his portrayal as the titular character in Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake for 2019, briefly described Run This Town in a tweet on Thursday. He wrote:
“Remember when you were younger & mad at grown-ups? Frustrated because your parents didn’t get you? ‘Cause your boss was incompetent? Angry at the mess left by the older and ‘smarter’ generation? This is that story.”
Most, if not all, of the film was filmed in the city of Toronto. Within the trailer, shots of some of the city’s landmarks, including Old City Hall, can be seen.
Run This Town serves as the first feature length debut by director Ricky Tollman. It is a one-hour, 40 minute film and will be released by Elevation Pictures.
The film’s first trailer can be seen in the video above.
Run This Town hits select cinemas across Canada on Friday, March 6, 2020.
— With files from Chris Jancelewicz
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