The Gilded Age HBO period drama from Downton Abbey creator gets first trailer

The first trailer for The Gilded Age, a new period drama from Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, is here.

The trailer shows off lavish opulence, beautiful costumes, and tension between the old and new. The impressive cast includes Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon, Jack Gilpin, Taissa Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Morgan Spector, Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, and many more.

The official synopsis for the HBO series reads: "The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and of huge fortunes made and lost. Against the backdrop of this transformation, the series begins in 1882 with young Marian Brook (Jacobson) moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Baranski) and Ada Brook (Nixon).

"Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George (Spector) and Bertha Russell (Coon)." (H/T IndieWire)

The Gilded Age was first set for NBC in 2018, but went to HBO the following year. It will finally debut early next year, and was co-written by Fellowes and Sonja Warfield. Michael Engler and Salli Richardson-Whitfield direct. 

"It was originally Mark Twain who called this the gilded age," Fellowes told Entertainment Weekly. "The important word is gilded. It's not the golden age, it's the gilded age. And that tells us it was all about the surface. It was all about the look of things, making the right appearance, creating the right image. That's what was really what distinguished the era."

The Gilded Age releases on HBO next January 24, and will also stream on HBO Max. In the meantime, check out our roundup of the best Netflix shows to fill out your watchlist.

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Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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