Dunkirk trailer: Watch the tense first teaser for Christopher Nolan’s new World War II film

The cinematography is already looking beautiful

Christopher Nolan’s next movie Dunkirk, which follows Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises and Inception, has debuted an ‘announcement’ video teasing footage from the film.

It opens on an empty shore, but the tension ratchets up as what sounds like a cross between a heart beat and a ticking clock gathers pace. The teaser ends with a shot of a crowded boat of terrified Allied soldiers, who duck as an enemy aircraft swoops down on them.

Unfortunately, the video, which is playing before showings of Suicide Squad, doesn't give a more specific release date than '2017'.

Dunkirk is Nolan's first war film and has an impressive cast including Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance. Newcomer Fionn Whitehead is also there, along with One Direction's Harry Styles, in his first film role.

The film will tell the true story of Operation Dynamo, a daring plan to rescue 300,000 Allied troops who were surrounded by Nazis soldiers in Dunkirk during World War II. Then prime minister Winston Churchill described the encirclement of the Belgian, British and French troops as "a colossal military disaster", but their rescue (spoiler alert, I guess) a "miracle of deliverance".

Super-cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot the movie, which will be presented in 70mm, 35mm and IMAX formats.