By Lacy Baugher for Movies on September 10th, 2014

WATCH: Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything' Trailer

Eddie Redmayne as a young Stephen Hawking. (Photo: Working Title Films)
Eddie Redmayne as a young Stephen Hawking. (Photo: Working Title Films)
Biopics about incredible British men – and starring incredible British men – seems to be quiet a theme at the movies in 2014. Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is earning early raves for his portrayal of Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and now fellow dreamy Brit Eddie Redmayne (whom you may know from Les Miserables and Birdsong) is also generating quite a bit of buzz in a role Cumberbatch previously played. (Because, you know, of course he did).

Redmayne is playing the great British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in a new film entitled The Theory of Everything. The drama explores the complex relationship between Hawking and his first wife Jane, and chronicles his diagnosis and subsequent battle with motor neurone disease beginning at the age of 21. (Motor neurone disease, in case you weren’t aware of this, is known as ALS in America, and was the impetus behind that Ice Bucket Challenge that took over your Facebook feed this summer.)  The film follows his career as a groundbreaking theoretician and the many discoveries he made as his body deteriorated. 

Felicity Jones stars opposite Redmayne as Hawking’s first wife Jane, and the pair are joined by several other recognizable British faces including Harry Potter’s David Thewlis, Silk’s Maxine Peake, Appropriate Adult’s Emily Watson, Boardwalk Empire’s Charlie Cox and more.         

Watch the trailer below: 

[This video is no longer available.]

The Theory of Everything is based on Jane Hawking’s 2007 memoir, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen and is directed by James Marsh (who won an Oscar for his documentary Man on Wire).

Cumberbatch earned a BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of Hawking in a 2004 BBC film which chronicled his early life and diagnosis while a student at Cambridge. The Theory of Everything, however, looks as though it will go much further in terms of depicting the degenerative nature of Hawking’s disease and what his triumphs in the face of adversity cost him. So, honestly you should probably just pack your tissues now.

The film hits US theaters on November 7.

Thoughts? Does The Theory of Everything sound like a film you’d want to see? 

By Lacy Baugher for Movies on September 10th, 2014
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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