Following on the heels of an initial teaser trailer for the upcoming film adaptation from director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage), viewers who have already begun anticipating the forthcoming theatrical release of A Monster Calls are in for something quiet unlike anything that has come before. Based in part on the 2011 children’s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness, the film in question features the voice of Liam Neeson (Run All Night) a giant tree monster in a contemporary horror fable sure to give with more than a passing thematic resemblance to this summer’s Stephen Spielberg family feature, The BFG.
Bayona made something of a name for himself with the release of his 2007 horror feature The Orphanage, and as such he stands as perhaps the best known talent to bring a property like A Monster Calls (based on popular, but not exactly mainstream source material) to the big screen. This is a probability further attested in the latest U.K. trailer for the new film.
Like the first batch footage released by distributor Focus Features, the latest trailer for A Monster Calls promises a whirl-wind, fantasy adventure tinged with only the slightest hint of shock, awe, and visceral terror. As Conor O’Malley, Lewis MacDougall (Pan) strikes the figure of the proverbial innocent whose fevered imagination grants life to a monster of his own making – and the world that the two of them inhabit is made all the more wondrous and fantastic because of them.
The film is set to co-star Sigourney Weaver (Chappie) and Felicity Jones (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) in supporting roles, which only lends further assurance that Bayona’s latest production should serve the acclaimed genre director well in the making of his latest directorial effort. If everything continues to fall into place as well as things appear to have done thus far, then A Monster Calls should prove to be something of a must-see moviegoing even when the film sees theatrical release in October.
Fans of the original children’s novel are likely more curious than most to see the final production, though moviegoers otherwise unfamiliar with source narrative are likely in for a visual treat as well with Bayona’s forthcoming visual spectacle. After honing his chops and decided skill-set in the production of The Impossible in 2012, A Monster Calls should be a welcome return for Bayona to the realm of genre filmmaking (following his work on the small screen with Penny Dreadful) – and might just win him a few new fans of his break-through horror hit The Orphanage in the process.
A Monster Calls will open in U.S. theaters on October 14th, 2016.
