Apple TV+ has released the official trailer for The Lost Bus, a survival thriller that looks equal parts emotional and nerve-shredding. Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera lead the charge. Watch the trailer above and scroll down to learn more.
A harrowing escape through fire and fear
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Set during the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California — the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history — The Lost Bus centres on Kevin (McConaughey), a drifting school bus driver who hears a radio call for help: a group of children are trapped at a local school, and the fire is closing in. He joins forces with Mary (Ferrera), a teacher whose students are among those at risk, and together they make a desperate bid to drive the kids out before it’s too late.
Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips) directs, and the trailer hints at the kind of tightly wound realism he’s known for. Smoke, burning roads, blocked paths — the journey looks anything but straightforward. It’s two ordinary adults, trying to stay calm, making impossible decisions as danger closes in.
“It’s too late,” Kevin says grimly at one point. “I’m too late as a father.” Mary replies: “It’s not too late.” And then, in what looks like one of the film’s most pivotal moments, we see Kevin slam the accelerator as the bus roars toward a wall of fire.
From book to screen, with a seasoned team
The film is adapted from Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by journalist Lizzie Johnson, who also serves as an executive producer. Jamie Lee Curtis brought the project to Blumhouse after hearing Johnson interviewed on NPR and produces the film through her Comet Pictures banner. Greengrass, Brad Ingelsby, Gregory Goodman, and Jason Blum are also on board as producers.
Greengrass shares screenwriting duties with Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown), and the film brings together a strong crew behind the scenes. James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight, King Kong) is on score, cinematography is by Pål Ulvik Rokseth (22 July), and David Crank (The Master, Knives Out) handles production design.
Joining McConaughey and Ferrera are Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Spencer Watson.
The Lost Bus opens in select U.S. cinemas on September 19 and streams globally on Apple TV+ from October 3.
