The trailer for Bombshell has revealed our first official look at Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly and Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson.

The Oscar-tipped drama will tell the story of how Fox News boss Roger Ailes was brought down by accusations of sexual harassment. The Oscar-winning actors star alongside Margot Robbie, who will play a fictionalised producer, while John Lithgow will play Ailes. The cast also includes Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney, Connie Britton, Rob Delaney and Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch.

Theron, last seen in romantic comedy Long Shot, recently spoke about how playing Kelly increased her understanding of the since disgraced TV personality. “I didn’t know how complicated her situation was and I think for a lot of people, they didn’t understand why she didn’t just speak up,” she said. “She was in a complicated place and as a human being, I have empathy for that. I don’t think a lot of people truly understood that.”

Lithgow has stressed that the film is about the women who stood up against Ailes rather than Ailes himself. “There’s so much talk about the very good signs that there’s so many great women’s stories being told,” he said at Sundance earlier this year. “This might be one of the best because it really is about six or seven extremely different women who have extremely different experiences and response of the crisis at Fox. I play the crisis.”

Bombshell is directed by Jay Roach, whose big screen credits include Austin Powers, Meet the Parents and Trumbo. He was also behind the award-winning political TV movies Game Change and Recount.

The film follows in the footsteps of Showtime series The Loudest Voice, which told a similar story and starred Russell Crowe as Ailes and Naomi Watts as Carlson. Ratings have been soft while reviews have been largely negative. The Guardian’s Charles Bramesco wrote that Crowe’s performance was “floundering”.

Bombshell will be released on 20 December.