Shia LaBeouf (left) and Tom Hardy star in a Cannes Film Festival selection "Lawless"

Fisticuffs, guns, and “illegal activities,”: or what I like to call the makings of a potentially great movie.  It’s fair to say that one of the movie’s I’m looking most forward to this year is John Hillcoat’s Lawless.  Hillcoat (The Road) is no stranger to period pieces or film festivals, having worked on the 2006 film The Proposition, starring Guy Pierce, which wound up winning the Gucci Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2006. So let’s just say that the guy knows what he’s doing.

And then of course there’s the fact that Tom Hardy is starring. And as a self-professed Batman nerd, you know I’m all about that Tom Hardy.

Anyhow, the first trailer was released late last night. Watch below!

The performances look great from everyone, including even Shia LaBeouf. Yes, that Shia LaBeouf, who may be able to hold his own against Hardy.  If anything, Hillcoat could have an award contender on his hands.

The movie follows a bootlegging gang (Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke) in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits. Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and Guy Pearce also star. The Weinstein Company will bring to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival before it hits theaters on August 31, 2012.