In her second directorial effort of a full length feature film, Angelina Jolie takes on the story of a real life war hero, who happens to also be her neighbor in Los Angeles. The actress was looking for inspiration on what to do next in terms of her career, and little did she know that the subject of her next project was sitting just a few houses away from her LA home. Fast forward to today, and we see the fruit of the collaboration between the Hollywood star, and her 90 year old subject. The second Angelina Jolie Unbroken trailer features Irish actor Jack O'Connell, portraying Zamperini's incredible life.
Zamperini participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympic games as part of the track and field team, and was talented enough to be noticed by Adolf Hitler himself. The track star would then sign on to be part of the U.S. Army Air Corps, where his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 1943. He was adrift for more than 40 days before being captured by Japanese fishermen and locked up for two years. Zamperini was tortured brutally during those years in prison.
He eventually made his way home to the U.S., and became a born-again Christian. He has been vocal about forgiveness for the remainder of his days. Zamperini wrote two books about his life: published in 1956 and 2003, both were called Devil at My Heels. His story was in the 2010 bestseller Unbroken, a book by Laura Hillenbrand.
Sadly, before Zamperini could watch the Angelina Jolie Unbroken trailer, he passed away at age 93 after battling pneumonia for quite some time. Jolie released a statement about Zamperini shortly after his death, "It is a loss impossible to describe," the actress said in a statement. "We are all so grateful for how enriched our lives are for having known him. We will miss him terribly."
Unbroken is Jolie's second directorial effort, after helming the 2011 film, In the Land of Milk and Honey, which tackles the Bosnian war.
Already, the movie has been generating Oscar buzz for Angelina Jolie and the rest of the Unbroken team.
The movie, which has a screenplay written by Joel and Ethan Coen will be released in cinemas on Christmas day 2014. Watch the second Angelina Jolie Unbroken trailer here:
