Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Perfume), declared in 2009 that he and the Wachowskis (The Matrix Trilogy, Bound) were working on a screenplay to adapt the bestselling novel Cloud Atlas by British author David Mitchell. Despite winning numerous literary accolades and stealing the hearts and minds of readers worldwide, Cloud Atlas felt a bit too overwhelmingly sprawling to be successfully adapted for the screen.Mitchell has been described as “Great Britain’s Thomas Pynchon,” which at least implies a deal with the devil had to be made in order to see Cloud Atlas projected on screen. It mixes time travel, boats, dystopia, et al. onto a beautifully unfurling psychedelic canvas of obscurity. For this reason many of the novel’s fans and critics proudly dismissed it as unadaptable, not unlike Cormac McCarthy’s brutal western Blood Meridian. Ridley Scott, Todd Field, and, yeah, James Franco have all supposedly tried and failed to adapt McCarthy’s blood-soaked bildungsroman.The Wachowskis and Tykwer teamed up as co-directors on Cloud Atlas in 2011; they armed themselves with a 100 million dollar budget and an ensemble cast (Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, and Susan Sarandon) and set out to prove all the naysayers wrong, or fail in a the most glorious god damn way imaginable.We’ll find out on October 26th whether or not Cloud Atlas should have stayed bound to its spine, but most of the internet seems to agree the trailer alone provides stunning evidence that it’ll be a hit. Although I’ve been tricked before (cough…The Tree of Life). Clocking in at a sprawling 5 minutes and 46 seconds this has got to be one of the most emotional, and stirring pieces of film advertising you will see this year.Follow O'Coin on Twitter: @OCOIN.Watch This Trailer is an ongoing series meant to draw Motherboard readers' attention to the art of film advertising. For better or for worse. Previously on Watch This Trailer: ‘Compliance’ Will Make You Lose Faith In Humanity.
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