First Look at Steven Speilberg's WAR HORSE

Here's our first look t Steven Speilberg's next film War Horse, which is based on a novel by Michael Morpurgo. I recently read the book, and I loved it. It will make for a great movie, and Speilberg is the right man for the job. 

The film stars Jeremy Irvine as the lead character Albert, a young man whose horse, Joey, is sold off to the French Calvalry, leading Albert to fight in the trenches of WWI to try to reunite with the animal. Irvine is surrounded by a great cast that includes Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Graham, Tom Hiddleston, Celine Buckens and Niels Arestrup. Also in the cast are David Kross, Patrick Kennedy, Rainer Bock, Nicolas Bro, Leonar Carow and Robert Emmms.

The film takes place in 1914, and follows a horse by the name of Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose. Joey is sold to the army and thrust into battle on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. 

Here's the official plot synopsis for the film:

From director Steven Spielberg comes “War Horse,” an epic adventure for audiences of all ages. Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. “War Horse” is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.