Jodie Comer attempts to speak the truth and is shamed for what she reveals in the official trailer for the historical epic, The Last Duel. The film’s based on a true story as told in Eric Jager’s book The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France and reunites Oscar winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on screen as well as behind the scenes where they share screenwriting credits with Nicole Holofcener.
The film stars Matt Damon as Jean de Carrouges, two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver (Marriage Story, BlacKkKlansman) as Jacques Le Gris, Emmy winner Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) as Marguerite de Carrouges, and Ben Affleck (Argo) as Count Pierre d’Alençon.
The 20th Century Studios production was directed by four-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott (The Martian, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise) and will launch in theaters on October 15, 2021.
Ridley Scott, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Nicole Holofcener, Kevin J. Walsh, and Jennifer Fox produced, with Kevin Halloran, Drew Vinton, and Madison Ainley executive producing.
“I love working with Matt, so it was an added bonus to be able to work with him and Ben as both actors and as screenwriters, along with Nicole Holofcener, and I knew it would be a great result,” stated director/producer Ridley Scott. “I had admired the show Killing Eve and had been looking for the opportunity to present Jodie Comer with a challenging role. Her performance as Marguerite will make her one of the great actresses of her generation.”
“This film is an effort to retell the story of a heroic woman from history whom most people haven’t heard of. We admired her bravery and resolute determination and felt this was both a story that needed to be told and one whose drama would captivate audiences the way it moved us as writers. As we further explored the story, we found so many aspects of the formal, codified patriarchy of 14th century Western Europe to still be present in vestigial ways (and in some cases almost unchanged) in today’s society,” said Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. “We chose to use the device of telling the story from several character’s perspectives in order to examine the immutable fact that although often multiple people who experience the same event come away with differing accounts, there can only be one truth.”
The Plot, Courtesy of 20th Century Studios:
The historical epic is a cinematic and thought-provoking drama set in the midst of the Hundred Years War that explores the ubiquitous power of men, the frailty of justice and the strength and courage of one woman willing to stand alone in the service of truth. Based on actual events, the film unravels long-held assumptions about France’s last sanctioned duel between Jean de Carrouges and Jacques Le Gris, two friends turned bitter rivals. Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. Le Gris is a Norman squire whose intelligence and eloquence make him one of the most admired nobles in court. When Carrouges’ wife, Marguerite, is viciously assaulted by Le Gris, a charge he denies, she refuses to stay silent, stepping forward to accuse her attacker, an act of bravery and defiance that puts her life in jeopardy.
The ensuing trial by combat, a grueling duel to the death, places the fate of all three in God’s hands.
as Jacques LeGris in 20th Century Studios’ ‘THE LAST DUEL’ (Photo © 2021 20th Century Studios)
