Jude Law Embodies Vladimir Putin's Rise to Power in Russia in “The Wizard of the Kremlin” Trailer

Tommy McArdleMon, April 13, 2026 at 3:20 PM UTC

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Jude Law, Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander and Jeffrey Wright star in the trailer for The Wizard of the Kremlin

The movie sees Law portray Russian president Vladimir Putin during his rise to power in the 1990s

The Wizard of the Kremlin is in theaters May 15

Jude Law is putting out a show-stopping performance as Russian president Vladimir Putin in his new movie.

On Monday, April 13, Vertical released a trailer for the upcoming movie The Wizard of the Kremlin, which charts Putin's rise to power in Russia in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The movie is adapted from the French novel of the same name (Le mage du Kremlin, in French) by author Giuliano de Empoli and casts Paul Dano as a fictional character named Vadim Baranov, who assists Putin in his rise to the center of Russia's government.

"In the chaos of post-Soviet Russia, rising KGB officer Vladimir Putin (Law, 53) joins forces with master manipulator Vadim Baranov (Dano, 41) to reshape life behind the Iron Curtain, using violence and deception to change the world forever," reads an official synopsis for the movie. "Putin and Baranov’s reign of chaos begins with lies and corruption, and quickly escalates to assassinations, tyranny, and eventually all-out war."

Jude Law and Paul Dano in 'The Wizard of the Kremlin'Credit: Carole Bethuel

Alicia Vikander, Tom Sturridge, Will Keen and Jeffrey Wright also costar in the upcoming movie, which made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August 2025. The movie is directed by Olivier Assayas, who wrote in a director' statement in Venice that the movie is "a reflection on modern politics — or rather, the smokescreens behind which it now hides: cynical, deceptive, and toxic."

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Law first announced that he would portray Putin, who initially became the president of Russia in 2000 and has largely stayed in that role since, in a January 2025 interview. At the time, Law suggested that the part "looks like an Everest to climb." When the actors and filmmaker behind the movie appeared for a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, Law said he believed "this story was going to be told intelligently and with nuance and consideration."

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Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in 'The Wizard of the Kremlin'Credit: Vertical

"The film is very much about how modern politics, 21st-century politics, were invented," Assayas said during that press conference. "And part of that brought the power of Vladimir Putin in Russia, so we made a movie about what politics has become and the very scary and dangerous situation we all feel we are in. We took a case, which was the specific story of Vladimir Putin, but I think it applies to a lot of leaders.The Wizard of the Kremlin is in theaters May 15.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”