Trailer released for ‘Only the Brave,’ film about Granite Mountain Hotshots

PHOENIX — The trailer for a long-awaited Hollywood film about the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed in an Arizona wildfire in 2013 has been released.

The film, which up until Wednesday had only been known by its working titles, “Granite Mountain” and “No Exit,” also got a new name: “Only the Brave.”

One of the film’s stars, Taylor Kitsch, told GQ everyone involved in the film was extremely passionate about getting the story of the ill-fated hotshots right.

“It’s a special one, man,” he said. “It’s a really important story. We want to honor the legacy they built.”

The film was scheduled for an Oct. 20 release. In addition to Kitsch, it will also feature Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller, Josh Brolin and Jennifer Connelly.

Director Joseph Kosinski told GQ he knew he wanted Brolin to star in the film the second he heard about it.

“I talked him through the vision I had for this film, and the importance of this story, and he got it instantly,” Kosinski said of Brolin. “He had actually worked as a volunteer firefighter at one point in his life, and he had lived in Prescott, Arizona, at one point.”

Teller will play the part of Brendan McDonough, the only member of the hotshots to survive the fire.

To make the film as accurate as possible, Kosinski hired several former members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and had the actors go through the actual training.

“There’s classroom work: tactics, understanding geography and meteorology. And then there’s physical aspect: digging lines, cutting trees, lighting backburns, using drop torches,” he said. “They slept out under the stars, and camped at night, like hotshots.”

Kosinski said the families of the fallen hotshots have given him positive reviews on the film.

“Of all the opinions on a film, [the family members’ reaction] is one that truly matters to me on the deepest level,” he told GQ. “And so far, every reaction I’ve gotten from the family members is that we did our job.”