Trailer Debut: The Great Gatsby

Been wondering what Baz Luhrmann‘s adaptation of F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby would look like? The answer is here. Watch the first trailer and find out.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, the slick, self-made socialite who harbours affection for his old flame Daisy (Carey Mulligan), despite her being married to the brutish Tom (Joel Edgerton). Tobey Maguire plays narrator Nick Carraway, thrust into Gatsby’s world of high society parties following his return from World War 1.

The trailer ominously opens with Kanye West and Jay-Z’s No Church in the Wild, which is a great song, but was also used in the teaser for the action-thriller Safe House. So, there’s that.

However, that cut from Kanye and Jay’s Watch the Throne – an album almost entirely concerned with outrageous American opulence enjoyed by two similarly self-made men – is actually rather appropriate. Also intriguing is the inclusion of Jack White’s cover of U2’s Love is Blindness.

Besides the musical selections, the picture looks visually sumptuous. DiCaprio and Maguire are too old for Jay and Nick, but we’ll reserve comment on their depiction of the characters until we see the film.

Luhrmann’s approach to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel has generated its fair share of ire during production, notably for being shot in Sydney rather than New York, and for Baz’s decision to film it in 3-D.

But, it’s hard not to get swept away by this grand old teaser. We remain cautiously optimistic.

The Great Gatsby opens January 10, 2013.

Discuss: Sold on Baz’s take?