HBO's TV movie Fahrenheit 451 is every bibliophile's worst nightmare. The trailer for the Ramin Bahrani-directed film shows the great lengths Michael B. Jordan's character goes through to burn every book he can find.

Story

The trailer opens with Jordan's Guy Montag leading a group of armed men into an abandoned house wherein one room holds over a hundred books. Michael Shannon's (The Shape of Water) Captain Beatty talks about the insanity contained in a book in a voiceover as Montag and the rest of the men torch the books to the ground.

"Have you even seen a physical book before? Do you wanna know what's inside? Insanity, chaos," Shannon's character says in the trailer below.

Apparently, books are deemed obsolete and a threat to mankind's existence in Fahrenheit 451

 "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. News, facts, memoirs, internet of old, burn it," Shannon's Captain Beatty says in the preview.

Set in a dystopian future where nothing is more dangerous than the written word, a fireman's priority is setting fire instead of putting them out. The goal is to destroy all the books for the sake of the younger generation.

"By the time you guys grow up, there won't be one book left," Guy Montag tells a group of schoolchildren.

Cast And Synopsis

In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is a young firefighter whose loyalty to his profession eventually opens his eyes to a far sinister motive behind his work. It seems those in power want to wipe out any trace of history found in books so they can create their own. As Shannon's Captain Beatty says in the trailer, "We are not born equal, so we must be made equal by the fire."

Guy Montag eventually questions the purpose of his profession for the sake of his humanity. His doubts led to a disagreement between his mentor and the two clashes as seen in the later part of the trailer.

"In a future where the media is an opiate, history is rewritten and 'firemen' burn books, Jordan plays Montag, a young fireman who struggles with his role as law enforcer. Battling his mentor, fire captain Beatty, played by [Michael] Shannon, he forsakes his world in an effort to regain his humanity," reads the official synopsis from HBO.

HBO's Fahrenheit 451 is an adaptation of the 1966 film of the same name from director Francois Truffaut. The movie is based on the dystopian story from book author Ray Bradbury. The film also stars Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Martin Donovan, and Laura Harrier and will premiere on HBO in May.