The 'Ocean with David Attenborough' Trailer Sees The Naturalist Unleashed

No one is more associated with nature documentaries than Sir David Attenborough, the British naturalist who happened to be in the right place at the right time as the BBC moved into television. Attenborough's on-screen career has now reached eight decades, from the first zoo-based series about smaller animals and plant life to the big sweeping docuseries like Planet Earth. Attenborough invented the style and structure of the multi-part nature documentary as viewers know it today, and his imprint can be found on nearly every Earth and Nature-focused series that's aired and streamed on the small screen.

Attenborough has rarely taken his work to the big screen world of feature films. (His movie credits number a paltry four compared to his literal thousands of hours of TV.) However, with the nongenarian only a year out from his centenary, he has acquiesced to his fifth feature-length theatrically released film, joining forces for the first time ever with the American National Geographic brand on the occasion of his 99th birthday to create Ocean with David Attenborough.

The naturalist has good reason to branch out and aim for a wider theatrical audience. Though he's still going strong at a year shy of 100, he hasn't got much time left, and the effects of climate change are accelerating at an alarming rate. So he's taking the fact that World Oceans Day occurs all of 48 hours before his birthday celebration to release his first documentary that focuses explicitly on the effects of climate change, one of his final clarion calls to action.  

Here's the film's synopsis:

After filming the natural world for over 70 years, captivating generations of audiences worldwide with groundbreaking discoveries and advocating for environmental preservation, Attenborough delivers his most powerful message yet. In the feature-length special Ocean with David Attenborough, he draws on his lifetime of exploration and knowledge of the sea to take audiences on a cinematic journey of wonder through the planet’s most spectacular undersea habitats. 

Attenborough investigates astonishingly diverse marine ecosystems, from bustling giant kelp jungles and mesmerizing coral reefs to towering seamount outposts within the open ocean, all of which are revealed to be intricately connected, vital to avoiding climate catastrophe, and in peril due to destructive forms of fishing. 

While Attenborough exposes the greatest threats to our oceans’ health as never seen before, he points to inspirational stories from around the world to reveal the most remarkable finding of all: If we take action now, the opportunity for marine life to recover on an unprecedented scale is well within our reach.

David Attenborough wrote and narrated the feature film documentary, with directors Toby Nowlan, Keith Scholey, and Colin Butfield sharing helming duties, with Nowlan producing. Silverback produces the film with All3Media International, Ocean Ten Media, Minderoo Productions, National Geographic Society, Pristine Seas, Don Quixote ASBL, and The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

David Attenborough: Ocean will debut on Tuesday, May 6, at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London. The film will be released theatrically on May 8, 2025, coinciding with Attenborough’s 99th birthday.