PETE’S DRAGON Teaser Trailer
Let’s be honest, if you’re stuck in a forest without other people, it’s cooler to pal around with a dragon than with apes. Sorry Tarzan, but Pete had a way better messed up childhood than you.
While Pete’s Dragon doesn’t quite fit into the live-action reboot trend that Disney is on, it’s certainly of the same mind. The 1977 original movie was a live-action/animation hybrid that is not one of the brand’s most beloved films. In what Disney is calling a reimagining, David Lowery was given the reigns to direct and co-write the film, and I can’t imagine that the Ain’t Them Bodies Saints director and Upstream Color editor is going to make a goofy kids film like the original was.
Nope, things definitely look different in this trailer. Gone are the songs and in is the misty Pacific Northwest, along with a very different looking CGI dragon being done by Weta Digital. It’s still a family film, make no mistake, but the tone seems a bit darker here.
The kid carrying this film is Oakes Fegley, perhaps best known as the son in the indie-drama Fort Bliss. With how much time he’s going to spend with a CGI dragon, it looks like he’s in a race against The Jungle Book’s Neel Sethi for the best performance of the year against a tennis ball. Fegley will have more interaction with real people than Sethi, though, as the film also stars Bryce Dallas Howard (please let her outrun the dragon in high heels) and Robert Redford.
In an interesting move, Disney has already rehired Lowery to head a live-action Peter Pan, which must mean that they’re satisfied with how Pete’s Dragon turned out. Why they haven’t released a full trailer yet is a bit of a mystery, but perhaps they’re just trying to wait out their higher profile releases. Disney still has three huge films in theaters. No reason to step on their toes.
Pete’s Dragon is directed by David Lowery and stars Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Robert Redford. It will be released in the U.S. and the U.K. on August 12th, 2016. For international release dates, click here.
Do you think Pete’s Dragon will continue Disney’s stellar 2016 run? Let us know in the comments!
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