David Oyelowo’s The Water Man Gets First Trailer and Poster

Thanks to starring in projects like Red Tails, The Butler, and Nightingale, David Oyelowo has been impressing audiences for years with his acting talents, ultimately earning himself an Oscar nomination for portraying Martin Luther King, Jr. in Ava DuVernay’s Selma, with Oyelowo going behind the camera for the new film The Water Man. The upcoming family-friendly adventure is slated to debut in theaters on May 7th in North America, while it will be debuting on Netflix in other parts of the world. The Water Man has earned its first trailer, which you can witness above, and its first poster, featured below.

“In this story, Gunner Boone, moves to a tiny rural town from the big city, with his mother and father in the hope that his sick mother will fare better there. Unfortunately, his mother gets worse,” Oyelowo shared in a statement. “Through a local girl named Jo, Gunner discovers the local legend of ‘The Water Man’ who is said to live deep in the woods and has the gift of cheating death, Gunner and Jo set out to find him and so our adventure begins. The Water Man is a story about how far a heroic young boy will go to save his mother. It’s about sacrificial love, hope, and overcoming adversity.”

He added, “I grew up loving family films that have adventure, fantasy, and jeopardy whilst never patronizing their young protagonists. As a father to four children I want to share films with my kids that both entertain and equip them for the highs and lows that lie ahead. I relish watching films with them that both transport our family to a different world and then leave us having meaningful conversations. I love films that do that, so I set out to make one for them, other families, and, hopefully, the whole world!”

The Water Man, a Black List script written by Emma Needell, also stars Rosario Dawson (Luke Cage), Lonnie Chavis (This is Us), Amiah Miller (War For the Planet of the Apes), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), and Maria Bello (NCIS). In The Water Man, Gunner (Chavis) sets out on a quest to save his ill mother (Dawson) by searching for a mythic figure who possesses the secret to immortality, the Water Man. After enlisting the help of a mysterious local girl, Jo (Miller), they journey together into the remote Wild Horse forest — but the deeper they venture, the stranger and more dangerous the forest becomes. Their only hope for rescue is Gunner’s father (Oyelowo), who will stop at nothing to find them and in the process will discover who his son really is.

The Water Man lands in theaters on May 7th.

Are you looking forward to the new film? Let us know in the comments below!