New Cloud Atlas images and extended trailer arrive online

Cloud Atlas has released a batch of new images online, giving us a first proper glimpse of the starry ensemble cast, many of whom will be assuming multiple roles for the ambitious production.

Adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by author David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas will tell a series of obscurely interconnected stories set in different eras and regions.

In the book, this was a device by which to allow Mitchell to explore different types of narratives (a segment written as a pacey, present day thriller would be followed by a sci-fi segment, and so on) and it should give the Wachowski siblings and co-director Tom Twyker similar scope for expression.

In the novel, various strands keep cropping up from one part of the story to the next (despite the many years separating each segment), and the film will attempt to maintain this continuity by casting actors in multiple roles. Hugh Grant, for example, is playing six!

If the convoluted nature of the (admittedly excellent) book is anything to go by, it should pose the filmmakers with a real challenge to do it justice, but from the look of these images, it at least promises to be visually spectacular, with scenes of lush jungle greenery rubbing shoulders with those featuring a futuristic skyline.

UPDATE: The first trailer for Cloud Atlas has been released (hat-tip to Den Of Geek ), and you can check it out below. Clocking in at almost six minutes long, it's epic and ambitious, but if it's successful, it could be a rare marriage of emotion and spectacle.

Check out the Cloud Atlas trailer below:

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Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Hugo Weaving, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant and Jim Sturgess, Cloud Atlas opens in the UK in October, with a specific release date to be confirmed. In the meantime, you can check out some more of the new images, below...