Also thanks to Obama: will this be the next apocalyptic hit for Netflix? The first photos promise stars in a state of emergency

After a much-publicized bidding war, Netflix secured the rights to the thriller ‘Leave The World Behind’, based on the successful novel by Rumaan Alam, in 2020 and was able to do so a short time later. a top cast Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali And Myha’la Herrol gift. This automatically made the disaster film one of the most anticipated films of the streaming year.

Now you can see the first photos – and the lurking catastrophe is reflected in the faces of the cast: Julia Roberts screams into the woods, Mahershala Ali wanders on a beach, desperate eyes meet and the invisible… The emphasis here is on the star-studded characters, who have to carry the tension for director and screenwriter Sam Esmail.

That they acted particularly credibly in a crisis situation was “Mr Robot”-Creators are especially important – so he sought advice from someone particularly familiar with global crises…

‘Leave The World Behind’ director got tips from former President Obama

Like Sam to Esmail explained that he sent his draft script to none other than former President of the United States, Barack Obama, and received mostly positive responses:

“I write from a fictional perspective and of course try to write as realistically as possible, but I do exaggerate and dramatize [wahrscheinlich trotzdem] a lot of. And to hear an ex-president say that I [nur] I was wrong about a few details… I thought there was a lot more!”

The former US president joined the project last year with his wife Michelle Obama and their joint production company Higher Ground (with which they have already made several Netflix documentaries) as executive producers. As Esmail points out, the two big fans of the novel are: “[Barack Obama] had a lot of comments about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. […] He made his comments as a fan of the book, and he just wanted to see a really good movie adaptation.”

New thriller success for Netflix after ‘Bird Box’?

With ‘Leave The World Behind’, Netflix wants to build on apocalyptic thriller hits such as ‘Bird Box’, which is considered one of the streaming service’s most successful in-house productions ever. In any case, the signs that this could succeed are more than good.

The film focuses on the encounter between a white and a black family who are crammed into a very small space during an ever-increasing supernatural catastrophe. Interpersonal conflicts arise, which are combined with the uncertainty that comes from outside.

After the first images, we can certainly expect a first trailer soon. The disaster thriller will premiere at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles at the end of October and will eventually be released December 8, 2023 on Netflix To Be Visible.