Selma Trailer

The trailer for the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma has been released online.

Directed byu Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere), Selma stars David Oyelowo as MLK Jr. in what looks more like a tense thriller than an introspective character study, with the three 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery as the backdrop. King turned his attention on the Alabama cities to secure voting rights there, leading demonstrations that helped convince President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to sign the Voting Rights Act.

The cast includes Tim Roth, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lorraine Toussaint, Jeremy Strong, Giovanni Ribisi, Alessandro Nivola, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey (also serving as one of the film’s producers along with Brad Pitt), Common, Wendell Pierce and Martin Sheen.

Selma premieres on December 25, 2014.