2022 is the year of Top Gun: Maverick. Unless Black Panther: Wakanda Forever or Avatar: The Way of Water match their predecessors’ box office, the Tom Cruise-led sequel will reign as the top-grossing movie of the year. Why then, would Sony choose to debut a similarly-themed movie before the end of 2022? Because at first glance, Devotion may seem like a lesser version of Top Gun: Maverick. But a closer examination of the new trailer reveals that Devotion has something that Maverick lacks: a true story as the foundation for the film.
Lovecraft Country‘s Jonathan Majors is headlining Devotion as Jesse Brown, the first African-American aviator to graduate from the Navy’s basic flight training program. His story was chronicled in Adam Makos’ book, Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice. During the Korean War, Brown had to face racism within the Navy and in his own country. But he also found kinship with Tom Hudner (Glen Powell, who stole the show in Top Gun: Maverick), a fellow pilot who became Brown’s friend and wingman during “America’s forgotten war.”
Here’s the official description of the film courtesy of Sony Pictures:
“Devotion, an aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen.”
Christina Jackson co-stars in the film as Jesse’s wife, Daisy Brown, with Joe Jonas as Marty Goode, Thomas Sadoski as Dick Cevoli, and Serinda Swan as Elizabeth Taylor. Rossy de Palma, Daren Kagasoff, Nick Hargrove, and Spencer Neville also have roles in the movie.
Devotion was directed by J. D. Dillard from a script by Jake Crane and Jonathan A. Stewart. It will be released in theaters on November 23.
