A new trailer from a trailblazing film studio shows that all of Hollywood is not lost, and that some entertainment companies still understand the value of making patriotic movies.
Following up its smashing success in 2023’s Sound of Freedom, Angel Studios is now tackling the early years of America’s first president in Young Washington – which is set to debut on July 3, 2026, just in time for the country’s 250th birthday. While mainstream filmmakers are now fixated on releasing social justice warrior slop or woke remakes of once-great films, Angel Studios has taken a decidedly different path, as this latest project reflects.
Young Washington will portray how Washington fought in the French and Indian War and cut his teeth as a soldier and leader on the gritty frontier of the American colonies. The film “captures the tension, courage, and humanity of a leader whose formative story has rarely been told on screen,” one executive said.
The trailer is evocative of such classics set in the colonial era as The Patriot (2000) and John Adams (2008), featuring fast-paced battle scenes and a youthful George Washington facing down French troops and Indian braves on the frontier.
Director Jon Erwin, who directed 2023’s Jesus Revolution and TV series House of David, will work alongside actors William Franklyn-Miller as Young Washington; Ben Kingsley as Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie; Andy Serkis as British General Edward Braddock; Kelsey Grammer of Frasier (1993-2004) and Cheers (1982-1993) fame as Lord Fairfax; and Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds (2005-2012) notoriety as Mary Washington. The cast brings plenty of accolades to this new project, including multiple Academy Award nominations and Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe awards.
While Hollywood has been obsessed with superhero sequels and remakes as of late, Angel Studios is betting that there are plenty of moviegoers out there hungry for stories about real-life heroes in our nation’s history. George Washington’s biography itself reads like a made-for-the-big-screen movie script.
Consider that Washington was only 21 years old when he began representing Britain as an “emissary” to France in 1753. Both countries were in conflict over expansion into the Ohio Valley, which was home to numerous Indian tribes.
However, when put in charge of this important duty, Washington had only a few years of military experience and had never seen combat. This likely contributed to what is considered by some historians to be a mistake that ultimately triggered the French and Indian War – a saga that Young Washington will no doubt explore.
As History.com relates, Washington and an Indian leader named Tanacharison teamed up their soldiers to confront a French leader named Joseph Coulon de Jumonville.
“When Washington and Tanacharison’s forces reached Jumonville’s camp, they attacked, killing Jumonville and several of his soldiers, and taking others prisoner,” the History Channel explains. “While the question of who fired first remains in dispute—according to one Mingo warrior, it was Washington himself—the skirmish quickly escalated into a broader conflict.”
As can be expected with a young military leader trying to raise a militia, mistakes were made throughout the war. Yet, this ultimately contributed to Washington’s growth and leadership during the American Revolution decades later – a development that Young Washington seeks to explore. As Mount Vernon’s website explains: “The war was also an important event in Washington’s life and development. His later decisions and actions were influenced by his French and Indian War experience.”
From the war, Washington “learned valuable lessons about command and politics” and the experiences “caused him to re-examine his professional and personal goals.”
“Washington emerged from the war as a less naïve person,” the website concludes. From there, of course, he would go on to lead America in the Revolutionary War and serve as its first president, cementing his legacy as one of the most consequential heroes of our country.
While little else has been released so far, there’s a good chance this movie will continue Angel Studios’ legacy of producing great films that reject Hollywood’s woke framing of everything.
Though the studio had earned some attention beginning with the 2017 release of “The Chosen,” which tells the story of Jesus Christ, it gained significant exposure in 2023 following the blockbuster film Sound of Freedom.
That movie tells the story of a brave former Department of Homeland Security agent named Tim Ballard who founded an organization to fight sex trafficking in Colombia. The movie raked in a jaw-dropping $250 million in revenue despite a budget of just under $15 million and frequent criticism from left-wing outlets and academics who somehow opposed its message of liberating child sex slaves.
In 2023, the same year Angel Studios hit it big with Sound of Freedom, Disney lost more than half a billion dollars on movies like The Marvels, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny. Though previous versions of these movies or films in the series had been a success, Disney could not replicate it.
Movies like Young Washington are the antidote to the self-flagellation and America-bashing going on in schools and pop culture. George Washington was not only one of the greatest Americans to ever live, but one of the greatest and most influential men in world history.
You can view the trailer for free HERE.
Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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