“Tragedy has a way of defining people” are the first words we hear in the new trailer for Entertainment Studios’ Chappaquiddick, the film based on the true story of the Ted Kennedy headline-making political scandal that involved a car accident and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
The trailer for the John Curran-directed film stars Jason Clarke as Kennedy and Kate Mara as Kopechne as well as a roster of actors portraying all the WASPy figures involved in the event including Bruce Dern as the senator’s domineering father Joseph Kennedy, Ed Helms as Joe Gargan, Jim Gaffigan as DA Paul Markham, and Olivia Thirlby as one of the “boiler room girls,” a group of single women who worked Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 Presidential campaign, which ended with his assassination.
Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios landed Chappaquiddick during the Toronto International Film Festival with a $20M commitment. The film chronicles the tragedy when Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge, ending the life of campaign worker Mary Jo Kopechne and his chance at the White House. Nine hours passed from when Kopechne drowned to when Kennedy reported the crash to the police.
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