Clint Eastwood's 15:17 To Paris Trailer Focuses On Three Real Life Heroes

Clint Eastwood is no stranger to directing biographical movies, having previously delivered Invictus, J. Edgar, American Sniper and Sully, to name a few. But his next biopic differs from the rest, as it will star the men who were actually the heroes of the the real life event. The 15:17 to Paris will tell the story of how Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos helped thwart the Thalys train attack in 2015, and you can get your first taste of how these three men fare at playing themselves in the movie's first trailer below.

For those of you unfamiliar with this event, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos, who at the time were members of the U.S. Armed Forces, were on board a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris, France on August 21, 2015 when an assailant named Ayoub El Khazzani came into the train car and started firing bullets at the passengers. When Khazzani's assault rifle jammed, Stone, Sadler and Skarlatos used that opportunity to charge and subdue him. Three people were injured during this attack, but there were no fatalities, and the three American men were later awarded for their bravery. The movie that will shed a cinematic light on their heroism is based off the book The 15:17 to Paris: The True Story of a Terrorist, a Train, and Three American Heroes, which they co-wrote with Jeffrey E. Stern. Originally The 15:17 to Paris was going to go the conventional route and have professional actors portray Stone, Sadler and Skarlatos, but at the "eleventh hour," it was decided that the men would be brought in to reenact what they went through.

As you can see from the first trailer for The 15:17 to Paris, the movie will chronicle not just the train attack, but Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos' lives leading up to the event, from how the trio became friends as children to their time in the military to their travels directly before the event. You'll also notice familiar faces like Jenna Fischer and Judy Greer will be lending their talents to Clint Eastwood's latest directorial venture, and other notable actors appearing include Tony Hale and Thomas Lennon. Because the movie's time frame stretches across several decades, then no doubt the moment when Stone, Sadler and Skarlatos stop the terrorist will be saved for the last third of the movie, though I suspect that The 15:17 to Paris might open with them on the train in the "present" before flashing back to the past.

The 15:17 to Paris opens in theaters on February 9, 2018. You can also consult our 2018 premiere guide to see what else will be released over the next year.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.