--- description: Petit gained fame when he walked on a wire between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1974 title: Check Out Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in First Trailer for 'The Walk' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7d8c95b7b8ff/69876dabcd68488b8f098810/joseph-gordon-levitt-the-walk.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Check Out Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in First Trailer for _The Walk_ by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 5:11 PM CUT  Sony Pictures by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 5:11 PM CUT Joseph Gordon-Levitt does quite the balancing act as star of the 2015 film _The Walk_. Sony Pictures unveiled Tuesday the first trailer for the upcoming movie, in which Gordon-Levitt plays tightrope walker Philippe Petit, who successfully [walked between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in 1974](http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1825168,00.html "undefined") (which was the subject of the 2008 [Oscar-winning documentary _Man on Wire_](http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1826334,00.html "undefined")). In the trailer, we see Gordon-Levitt on the roof of one of the towers, peering out over the New York skyline. He takes a tentative step out onto a metal beam, then confidently poses on one leg as triumphant music blares. The movie, helmed by _Forrest Gump_ and _Back to the Future_ director Robert Zemeckis, is slated for an October 2015 release. Check out the full trailer above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3625605/joseph-gordon-levitt-philippe-petit-the-walk-trailer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3625605/joseph-gordon-levitt-philippe-petit-the-walk-trailer/"},"headline":"Check Out Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in First Trailer for The Walk","datePublished":"2014-12-09T17:11:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:41:54.885Z","description":"Petit gained fame when he walked on a wire between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1974","url":"https://time.com/3625605/joseph-gordon-levitt-philippe-petit-the-walk-trailer/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7d8c95b7b8ff/69876dabcd68488b8f098810/joseph-gordon-levitt-the-walk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b0a7d8c95b7b8ff/69876dabcd68488b8f098810/joseph-gordon-levitt-the-walk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"joseph-gordon-levitt-the-walk","caption":"","creditText":"Sony Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3625605/joseph-gordon-levitt-philippe-petit-the-walk-trailer/","name":"Check Out Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in First Trailer for The Walk"}}]}] ```