Netflix has released the first trailer for The Dig, one of the streaming service's first original movies of 2021.
Adapted from John Preston's novel of the same name, The Dig tells the story of the most famous archaeological dig in Britain of modern times: the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial ship at Sutton Hoo, known as "Britain's Tutankhamun".
Set in 1939, the movie stars Carey Mulligan as wealthy widow Edith Pretty, who hires amateur archaeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the burial mounds on her estate.
When they make the historic discovery, the echoes of Britain's past resonate in the face of its uncertain future as World War II looms.
Directed by Simon Stone, The Dig also stars Lily James, Johnny Flynn, Ben Chaplin, Ken Stott and Monica Dolan, and it's set for release in cinemas on January 15 and on Netflix on January 29.
It marks James's second Netflix movie in a matter of months as she also took on the role as the new Mrs de Winter in Ben Wheatley's adaptation of Rebecca, which also starred Armie Hammer and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Shortly after its release, James admitted that working on Rebecca got under her skin due to her character's mindset.
"Towards the end of making it, I started getting this thing where my heart was beating so loudly that you could hear it. It's really scary. All of a sudden, you become very, very aware of your heartbeat and you can feel it going really fast," she said.
"And when you look at the psychological aspect of the book, and the darkness and the twistedness in it, it suddenly made sense... I think I got a bit sucked into the vortex. I didn't know which way to turn at times."
The Dig is set for release in cinemas on January 15 and on Netflix on January 29.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
