First Look: Six New Images for Steve McQueen’s ‘Twelve Years a Slave,’ Starring Ejiofor, Fassbender, Cumberbatch and More

Fox Searchlight has released the first official images for Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated “Twelve Years a Slave,” starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Paulson and Lupita Nyongo. 

No sightings yet of Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Michael K. Williams or Paul Dano, who also have roles in the film. An unofficial image of pint-sized Quvenzhane Wallis in costume is here.

Here’s what we know so far about the film: Written by John Ridley from the book by Solomon Northup, it centers on his true story. Northup (Ejiofor), a freed black man from
upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War United
States. Fassbender plays Northup’s malevolent slave owner, and Pitt a Canadian
abolitionist.

McQueen previously directed Fassbender in “Shame,” acquired by Searchlight, and “Hunger.”

The film is set to hit theaters on December 27, just in time for awards season.