New, darkly hilarious Death of Stalin trailer unravels in front of our eyes

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

THE DEATH OF STALIN is a "period comedy-drama film directed by Armando Iannucci which chronicles the Soviet power struggles occasioned by the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953", which looks amazing. Iannucci is the director of IN THE LOOP, a darkly hilarious look at Bush-era political discourse. This looks to be in the same vein, only dealing with Russia in the '50s instead of the US in the early '00s. He's also responsible for writing/directing episodes of the British show THE THICK OF IT (of which IN THE LOOP is a spin-off) and HBO's VEEP. So we know we're in good hands.

And look at that cast! Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Isaacs, fucking MONTY PYTHON-alumni Michael Palin. That shit is stacked! I also have to admit my own fascination with Russian and Soviet history, so having the director of IN THE LOOP (one of my favorite comedies) directing a big-budget comedy about Russian history with such a talented cast? This is a dream I never knew I had come true for me. Hopefully the film itself delivers!

THE DEATH OF STALIN made it's debut at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and is awaiting wide US release (though it will be released in Europe October 20th.)