Earlier today, Fox released the first full trailer for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an adaptation of the popular novel directed by Tim Burton.
The film is about a boy named Jacob (Asa Butterfield) who uncovers a secret refuge for “peculiar children”, run by Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is. Check out the trailer below!
In a word: wow. Every moment here seems filled with more promise and verve than any of Burton’s last three live action films. Alice in Wonderland was a huge hit and has a sequel coming this summer (directed by James Bobin), but it wasn’t what many of us wanted or expected out of Burton taking on the beloved property. Dark Shadows had some fun dialogue and make-up, but was a mess. Big Eyes wasn’t the awards season darling it initially seemed to be, so many Burton fans, myself included, have been readjusting their expectations of Burton’s films.
We know every director gets older, and every director’s tastes and style change over time. But now, seeing this, I’m wondering if Burton has a passion for this property that perhaps he hasn’t had for a while. That whole underwater sequence, where Emma (Ella Purnell) brings Jacob down to the shipwreck, is spectacular. It counts for a lot in my book that Burton actually shot a lot of this underwater, on submerged sets. It looks incredible, especially when you compare it to underwater sequences that are shot dry, against green screen (Peter Jackson prefers this method, and you can see it in King Kong and Lord of the Rings).
The rest of it looks great, too. There’s a girl with a huge, fanged mouth on the back of her head, a freaky monster that would look at home in a Resident Evil game, and Eva Green can turn into a bird. Sign me up.
Burton appears to be dialing back his candy-colored palette a bit, going for a more subdued look. The vibe here is very X-Men: First Class, so the project seems a great fit for screenwriter Jane Goldman, who worked on that film (along with Kingsman and several other Matthew Vaughn films).
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children arrives in theaters September 30, 2016.
Would you like to be part of the Fandom team? Join our Fan Contributor Program and share your voice on Fandom.com!