The official teaser trailer for Academy Award-winner Barry Jenkin’s (Moonlight) upcoming series at Amazon Prime Video The Underground Railroad was released today. With it came the news that the ten-part limited series will debut on the streamer worldwide on May 14, 2021, as reported by Deadline.
The Underground Railroad is based on the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name written by Colson Whitehead (The Nickle Boys). Telling the story of Cora, a slave coming of age in the antebellum south, she discovers The Underground Railroad and decides to make a break for freedom. As she flees her plantation in Georgia to find it, hot pursuit follows quickly at her heels. A bounty hunter, Ridgeway, becomes obsessed with tracking her down and will stop at nothing until he does.
Thuso Mbedu (Generations: The Legacy) will star in the series as Cora, Joel Edgerton (Red Sparrow) as Ridgeway, and Chase W. Dillon (The First Wives Club) as as Homer. The cast will also feature Aaron Pierre (Kyrpton), William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), Sheila Atim (The Pale Horse), Lily Rabe (American Horror Story), Amber Gray (Hadestown), Peter De Jersey (The Bill), Chukwudi Iwuji (News of the World), Peter Mullan (Top of the Lake), Will Poulter (We’re the Millers), and Irone Singleton (The Walking Dead).
The official teaser trailer released on Thursday comes in short at thirty seconds but contains multitudes. It begins with Cora approaching a ticket counter at a train station and the conductor asking, “Free or runaway?” to which Cora responds, “I’m not sure.” This kicks off a choatic set of snapshots for what the series has in store, with much of the show still surrounded in mystery.
The Underground Railroad is directed in its by Jenkins. He executive produces alongside Whitehead, Adele Romanski (Moonlight), Dede Gardner (Moonlgiht), Mark Ceryak (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Sara Murphy (If Beale Street Could Talk), Jeremy Kleiner (12 Years a Slave), Sarah Esberg (Beautiful Boy), Richard Heus (The Man in the High Castle), and Jackie Hoyt (The Leftovers).
Watch the official teaser trailer for The Underground Railroad below: