BWW Photo Flash: Houston Gets Early Screening of HIDDEN FIGURES

HIDDEN FIGURES screens in select cities and theaters this Christmas, including Houston's Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24 & RPX. See the trailer and the photos from the film below!

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HIDDEN FIGURES uncovers the incredible, untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) -- three brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation's confidence, turned around the space race, and galvanized the world.

"This story takes place at the collision of the Cold War, the space race, the Jim Crow south, and the birth of the Civil Rights movement. It is incredible territory for a rich and powerful story few people know about at all," says HIDDEN FIGURES director Theodore Melfi.

The film recounts the vital history of this elite team of black female mathematicians who helped win the all-out space race against America's rivals in the Soviet Union and, at the same time, sent the quest for equal rights and opportunity rocketing forwards. "These women were hidden in plain sight in a way," says Margot Lee Shetterly, author of "Hidden Figures," the non-fiction book that serves as the basis for the film. "They felt they had a chance to do jobs they loved - and they loved this challenging math -- so they didn't draw attention to themselves."

More than their humility, Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson just don't seem to fit the bill of aeronautical mathematicians (even based on our modern notions of a space scientist). "We have this image of what an astronaut or a scientist looks like," says Shetterly. "And since these women did not fit the profile, historians often looked past them."

The true story film stars Golden Globe-winning actress Taraji P. Henson, known for her leading role as "Iron Butterfly" matriarch Cookie Lyon in FOX's hit TV drama EMPIRE, Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Octavia Spencer, and singer Janelle Monáe.

An equally award-winning supporting cast joins Henson, Spencer, Monae (and Kevin Costner, who plays a fictional character, NASA manager Al Harrison) -- Emmy nominated Mahershala Ali (FREE STATE OF JONES), Kirsten Dunst, four-time Emmy winner Jim Parsons (THE BIG BANG THEORY) and Kimberly Quinn (ST. VINCENT, GYPSY).

HIDDEN FIGURES director Melfi Theodore wrote the film's screenplay in conjunction with Allison Schroeder, based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly. Also on the creative crew: director of photography Mandy Walker (JANE GOT A GUN, AUSTRALIA), production designer Wynn Thomas (CINDERELLA MAN, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), editor Peter Teschner (ST. VINCENT), costume designer Renee Erlich Kalfus (CHOCOLAT) and composers Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch.

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HIDDEN FIGURES enters a limited-release on December 25, 2016 for select cities and theaters, including the Edwards Greenway Grand Palace in Houston, Texas, and wide release on January 6, 2017. Directed by Theodore Melfi from a screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly. Starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, and Kevin Costner. Presented by Fox 2000 Pictures. A Chernin Entertainment/Levantine Films Production.

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