(Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman)Cast member Brad Pitt attends a photocall for the film ''Killing Them Softly'', by director Andrew Dominik, in competition at the 65th Cannes Film Festival, May 22, 2012.The official trailer for Brad Pitt's new movie "Killing Them Softly" has swept the internet after its release Thursday.
After its successful premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the trailer for crime thriller was highly anticipated.
Just 2-and-a-half-minutes long, the sneak peek reveals Pitt as Jackie Cogan, a hit man who ruthlessly but "softly" carries out his killings.
The first scene shows a high-stakes card game organized by Markie (Ray Liotta), who is robbed by two younger men. Fight scenes and a car crash are seen, and Pitt's character opens with a soliloquy.
"Have you ever killed anyone?" asks Pitt in character as Cogan. "They cry and they plead. They call for their mothers. I like to kill them softly, from a distance."
Based off George V. Higgins' 1974 crime novel "Cogan's Trade," "Killing Them Softly" is directed by Andrew Dominik and co-produced by Pitt. It is set in the U.S. and looks at financial and economic crises as mobsters and criminals struggle to get by.
"We are playing people with very specific opinions," Pitt explained of the film while promoting it in Cannes earlier this year, according to Reuters.
"We are clearly living in our country at a time of great divide and so I'm interested in those other arguments that are … certainly not mine," continued the 48-year-old actor.
Pitt mentioned a "toxic" political divide in the U.S.
"It's more about the party winning that argument that about the issues themselves," noted the actor. "It's a serious, serious problem."
Some critics who viewed "Killing Them Softly" in Cannes said the political undertones in the film were distinct, and could indicate criticism of the Obama administration.
Regardless of political innuendoes, it is clear from Pitt's final line in the trailer that the film will touch on the American dream.
"I'm living in America, and in America, you're on your own," said Pitt in the sneak peek.
"Killing Them Softly" arrives in theaters Oct. 19.
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