Gary Oldman’s Winston Churchill From ‘Darkest Hour’ Wows CinemaCon

At a lunch for Focus Features at CinemaCon on Wednesday, Gary Oldman took the stage to introduce Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour. He told the audience that he spent hundreds of hours in the makeup chair, and in the footage the audience was shown, he’s unrecognizable, taking on the shape and voice of the iconic Winston Churchill.

“Once I started to find out who the man was, I never enjoyed something so much in my life,” said Oldman of playing Churchill in the film. The story takes place over five weeks in 1915, the first weeks of Churchill’s time as Prime Minister. In the trailer, he’s seen giving the “victory at all costs” speech.

“I know you’re going to hate when I say this, but that has Oscar written all over it,” the event’s host told Oldman.

Focus’ lunch at CinemaCon, celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary, had an emphasis on seeing movies in theaters, with the topic coming up more than once.

“You should see all movies in a theater,” said director Colin Trevorrow, who was at the presentation at CinemaCon to introduce the first trailer for his film The Book of Henry. “Don’t get cocky, home video.”

Trevorrow introduced the first trailer for the thriller The Book of Henry, starring Naomi Watts as a mother whose genius son attempts to save a young teen living next door.

Trevorrow most recently helmed the hit Jurassic World, and told theater owners that the two projects aren’t that different: “They are both about brave children in peril and dangerous things happening … overall both movies are whimsical and dark and emotion, and in the end you are on the edge of your seat.”

Sofia Coppola also emphasized that she’d like her upcoming film, The Beguiled, to be seen on the big screen, “where it is meant to be seen.” She brought stars Kirsten Dunst and Colin Farrell onstage with her to introduce the first trailer, a dark psychological thriller about a home of women who host an injured soldier (Farrell).