Denzel Washington is back to chasing a murderer in his latest project. Warner Brothers has debuted the trailer for The Little Things, which stars Washington opposite Rami Malek (Mr. Robot, Bohemian Rhapsody) as mismatched law enforcement officials who are forced to work together.
Washington plays Deke, a deputy sheriff from Kern County in California, who ends up attached to the investigation into a serial killer operating in the deserts between Bakersfield and Los Angeles. That means he has to partner with Sergeant Jim Baxter (Malek) of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Deke's significantly older, set in his ways, and isn't afraid to knock a suspect around a bit; Baxter is media-savvy and more in tune with modern-day L.A.
The Little Things co-stars Jared Leto and Natalie Morales (The Middleman, Stuber), with John Lee Hancock (The Founder, The Highwaymen) as writer, director, and producer. With Washington, Malek, and Leto, this is a high-powered cast, with three Academy Awards for Best Actor and two for Best Supporting Actor between them.
While The Little Things looks like a fairly dark crime drama in its trailer, it's also another spoke in Warner Brothers' controversial plan for 2021. The Little Things, like the rest of the films on WB's 2021 schedule, will start its initial theatrical run on the same day and date as it premieres for VOD via HBO Max. As such, it's a movie that analysts and accountants may be watching very closely, because if it still manages to turn a healthy profit, it may lead to other studios following suit.
Warner Bros. is billing this as Washington's big return to film, as his last movie to hit theaters before this was 2018's The Equalizer 2. If there was any particular reason for Washington taking a break for a while, it doesn't appear to be public knowledge. In the intervening period, Washington did spend a little over two months playing Theodore Hickman in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway in 2018. He's also listed as a producer on Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which began airing on Netflix on December 18, and which will now go down in history as Chadwick Boseman's final film performance.
Washington's next project is The Tragedy of Macbeth, a Shakespeare adaptation written and directed by Joel Coen (Fargo, No Country for Old Men) in his first solo work as a filmmaker. Washington is slated to play the title role, opposite Frances McDormand's Lady Macbeth.
The Little Things is scheduled for release in theaters and on HBO Max on January 29, 2021.
Source: Warner Bros.|YouTube