Amazon's The Underground Railroad Gets First Teaser

Director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, Dear White People) has released a new trailer for his upcoming Amazon adaptation of Colson Whitehead's novel The Underground Railroad. It's a tense, awe-inspiring clip clocking in at just over a minute where not much literally happens--but a strong sense of the show's tone and scope comes shining through brightly. Check it out below.

The series has been in the works since Whitehead's novel came out in 2016. In 2017, it was revealed that Jenkins would direct all 11 episodes of a limited series for Amazon, in collaboration with Brad Pitt's production company Plan B. This new teaser represents a significant leap forward for the project, which doesn't yet have a release date, but Jenkins himself revealed on September 22 that filming has wrapped. So, it's only a matter of time--and hopefully soon--that the series drops. In 2018, Jenkins told Deadline that, "Working with Amazon and a wonderful group of screenwriters to develop Colson's novel into a limited series has been an extremely rewarding experience. Translating his singular voice into a cohesive and equally singular visual language is a task I very much look forward to."

Among the show's co-stars are Thuso Mbedu (Saints and Sinners), Chase W. Dillon (The First Wives Club), Aaron Pierre (Krypton), Joel Edgerton (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), Owen Harn (Vice Principals).

In Whitehead's novel, the Underground Railroad "is no mere metaphor: engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil… The Underground Railroad is both the gripping tale of one woman’s will to escape the horrors of bondage—and a powerful meditation on the history we all share."