First Trailer Released for Charles Pellegrino’s Book, Soon to Be Adapted by James Cameron
The official trailer for Charles Pellegrino’s book Ghosts of Hiroshima is now available. The non-fiction book is set to be released on August 5 by Blackstone Publishing and The Story Factory, timed to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Japan.
This book is very special because it will be turned into a movie directed by James Cameron, the three-time Oscar winner who bought the rights in September 2024. Pellegrino, who wrote the bestselling Her Name, Titanic, also worked as a science consultant for Cameron on Avatar and Titanic.
For Cameron, Ghosts of Hiroshima has been a passion project for years. It will be his first film outside the Avatar series since he won the Best Picture Oscar for Titanic. He plans to start filming after finishing work on Avatar.
EXCLUSIVE: The official trailer for Charles Pellegrino’s book “Ghosts of Hiroshima” is here. The book will be made into a film directed by three-time Oscar winner James Cameron.
— Variety (@Variety) July 16, 2025
The non-fiction title is due out on Aug. 5, a date which coincides with the 80th anniversary of… pic.twitter.com/GoePszom1R
The trailer is narrated by Martin Sheen, a three-time Emmy winner. Sheen also voices the audiobook. Cameron chose Sheen personally because he thought Sheen’s voice would give the trailer the seriousness it needs. Cameron mentioned Sheen’s strong narration in Apocalypse Now as a reason for his choice. Interestingly, Sheen has only narrated one other trailer before, for Oliver Stone’s Oscar-winning JFK.
The trailer features music by famous composer Hans Zimmer. It shows a plane flying above the clouds and starts with a recording of President Harry Truman’s August 6, 1945 speech announcing the bombing of Hiroshima. It ends with J. Robert Oppenheimer’s famous quote from Hindu scripture: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
Ghosts of Hiroshima tells the incredible true story of a Japanese man who survived both atomic bombings during World War II. After surviving the blast in Hiroshima, he traveled by train to Nagasaki and lived through another bombing there.
The book is based on years of detailed forensic archaeology and interviews with over 200 survivors and their families. Pellegrino is represented by Shane Salerno’s The Story Factory, which helped with the book’s release.
This information comes from an exclusive report by Blackstone Publishing and The Story Factory.
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