1917 trailer: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman must race against time to save thousands in Sam Mendes' war film

The trailer of Sam Mendes' upcoming war film 1917 has been released. The historical epic  follows two British soldiers on a mission to deliver a message that will stop an attack, and save thousands of lives.[caption id="attachment_7455031" align="alignnone" width="861"]

A still from the trailer | Twitter[/caption]1917 is set during the height of the First World War, and unfolds in real time as two young British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) are tasked with delivering a message that will save the lives of 1,600 men.  "In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers — Blake’s (Chapman) own brother among them," says the voiceover.Check out the trailer here

The trailer emerges only a few days after Universal released a behind-the-scenes video that revealed how Mendes and Deakins created the film to look like it was filmed in one continuous shot. “It was fundamentally an emotional choice,” Mendes told Vanity Fair this month about the single-take approach. “I wanted to travel every step with these men — to breathe every breath with them. It needed to be visceral and immersive. What they are asked to do is almost impossibly difficult. The way the movie is made is designed to bring you as close as possible to that experience.”Mendes penned the script with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, and will also produce the film. Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners is producing 1917 through its DreamWorks Pictures brand.The film also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Richard Madden, Colin Firth, Andrew Scott, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Claire Duburcq.1917 marks a reunion for Mendes and DreamWorks. The British director won an Oscar for his first feature, American Beauty from 1999, and also directed Road to Perdition and Revolutionary Road for DreamWorks.Mendes also helmed Jarhead, Away We Go, and the last two James Bond movies, Skyfall and Spectre.Universal Pictures will open 1917 in theaters on 25 December.(With inputs from agencies)