Irish playwright-turned-filmmaker Martin McDonagh made a strong directorial debut in 2008 with the black comedy / crime drama In Bruges. Not only did it garner tons of critical praise, it even ended up earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. While I wasn’t quite as blown away by the movie as some people were, I was still very curious to see what he might do for an encore. Now the first trailer for his follow-up film Seven Psychopaths has arrived online and I am definitely intrigued.

The movie once again stars Colin Farrell, although this time around he isn’t a criminal… he just happens to be surrounded by them. He gets pulled into a predicament when his best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) and Billy’s partner Hans (Christopher Walken) kidnap a dog that is owned by a well-known gangster (Woody Harrelson). The trailer has a bit of a Guy Ritchie feel to it, which I’m not entirely crazy about, but I like the idea of gangsters going to war over a Shih Tzu. I’m just hoping the comedy isn’t all there is to it, and that it also has a little more depth (like In Bruges did). Seven Psychopaths will premiere at TIFF in September before hitting U.S. theatres on October 12th; check out the trailer after the jump and see what you think.