Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek's war drama ‘Without Blood’ finally sets release date
Angelina Jolie is returning to feature directing with a story about the effects of war and a reckoning that unfolds years after one family is killed. The first trailer for ‘Without Blood’ places Salma Hayek Pinault’s Nina across a table from Tito, played by Demián Bichir, as the purpose of their meeting emerges. The footage confirms a theatrical launch while centering their conversation about the past.
‘Without Blood’ opens in theaters on September 18. Written and directed by Jolie, the film is adapted from Alessandro Baricco’s bestselling novel. The logline states, “Nina (Salma Hayek Pinault), driven by revenge after losing her family during a devastating war, tracks down the man she believes holds the answers about their deaths (Demián Bichir).” It is Jolie’s sixth feature as a director and her first since 2017’s ‘First They Killed My Father.’
The trailer keeps Nina and Tito’s exchange at the center. Nina asks him, “How can God forgive you?” before telling him, “Revenge is the drug that allows us to fight.” The exchange establishes retaliation as the focus of Nina’s meeting with Tito. Bichir co-leads the film as the man she has sought after, carrying the memory of her family’s murder for years.
Hayek Pinault previously told Entertainment Weekly that she did not want to play Nina because of the emotional demands. “I didn’t want to do the movie. I didn’t want to be Nina,” she said in the comments. “I didn’t want to go to the places that she’s been, emotionally.”
The actress explained why the role required her to remain engaged throughout each scene. “You have to be at the edge every single day, every single hour of the day while you’re playing this character. And there’s nowhere to hide,” she said. “There’s not a lot of action happening. If for one second you are not there, it is going to be very clear.”
After a lot of “long conversations,” Jolie persuaded Hayek Pinault to accept the role. Hayek Pinault later called Jolie “the best actors' director I’ve ever worked with” and said she had never felt so valued. Their collaboration will reach theaters in September, with the trailer positioning Nina’s meeting with Tito as the point where her years-long plan comes to the surface.
