‘The Lost Bus’ Trailer Apple’s Wildfire Drama Stars Matthew McConaughey

Apple Original Films has released the first teaser for The Lost Bus, a dramatic thriller led by Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. Inspired by real events, the film portrays the terrifying urgency of a California wildfire evacuation, with 22 children trapped on a school bus and no easy way out.

Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips), the film is based on Lizzie Johnson’s nonfiction account, Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire. McConaughey plays Kevin McKay, a school bus driver who, along with Ferrera’s Mary Ludwig, a teacher, must navigate an inferno to save a group of stranded students. In one chilling moment from the teaser, a dispatcher calls out: “There’s a situation at Ponderosa Elementary. There are 23 kids who are stranded. Is there anybody in the area that can pick them up?”

While the film doesn’t yet have a specific release date, The Lost Bus is expected to arrive in select theaters and on Apple TV+ this fall. Apple describes the project as a “white-knuckle ride through one of America’s deadliest wildfires.” Judging by the footage, a school bus surrounded by flames, it’s aiming for impact. The stakes are life or death.

Greengrass, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Brad Ingelsby, said the film is about “quiet heroism.” In a statement to press, he added, “I’m honored to have been entrusted with this story.” Jamie Lee Curtis, who brought the idea to Blumhouse after hearing Johnson’s NPR interview, serves as a producer via Comet Pictures. Lizzie Johnson is also credited as an executive producer.

For McConaughey, this marks a significant return to live-action filmmaking. After a six-year hiatus, he re-emerged earlier this year in The Rivals of Amziah King.

Also joining the cast are Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Spencer Watson. With a high-caliber creative team and a real-world crisis at its core, The Lost Bus looks set to steer into awards season with intensity.

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