Welcome to our new feature here at Play Into It called Trailer Roundup. It’s dedicated to those, like myself, love getting a first look at new movies.
This week’s trailer roundup sees the Star Wars saga continue with Episode IX, a live-action Disney remake, the spooky and kooky family returns, the hidden neurosis of the secret life of pets, a femme fatale assassin, the comedy version of End Game (figuratively speaking) starring a menagerie of SNL’s leading ladies, a Beyoncé documentary, Allison Williams back to her wicked ways à la Get Out, a Kids meets Trainspotting new series on HBO, and the return of the Monterey 5.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy finally has a name. During a panel at Star Wars Celebration on Friday, Lucasfilm debuted the first trailer for Episode IX, which will officially be called Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film will be directed by J.J. Abrams, who kicked off Disney’s Star Wars efforts with The Force Awakens back in 2015. According to Abrams, the new installment takes place sometime after Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
Secret Life of Pets
Universal Pictures celebrated National Pet Day yesterday by dropping a new trailer for The Secret Life of Pets 2 with an adorable new trailer that is sure to captivate the kiddies. The trailer shows the continuation terrier Max, voiced by Patton Oswalt, being taken to the vet by his owner Katie (voiced by Ellie Kemper) due to the stress of protecting her toddler son Liam. New to the Secret Life world is Harrison Ford, making his animated-film debut as the Welsh Sheepdog Rooster. The voice cast includes returnees Eric Stonestreet as Duke, Lake Bell as Chloe the cat, my nephew’s personal favorite Gidget the Pomeranian voiced by Jenny Slate, as well as newcomer Daisy the Shih Tzu voiced by Tiffany Haddish.
The Addams Family
MGM’s The Addams Family trailer is finally here. The latest rendition of the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky clan sees them transformed into animated characters in a gloomy CGI world. Our dream casting for Gomez Addams was heard when Oscar Isaac got the role, Charlize Theron will be the raven-haired matriarch. The rest of the cast star-studded… Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley, Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, and Bette Midler as Grandmama.
The Lion King
Unlike Maleficent’s stunning reimagining, 2019’s The Lion King will bring the same photo-realistic CGI from Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book. The cast is jam-packed but Donald Glover as Simba and lastly Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala. Which means there will be a gorgeous Bey–Childish Gambino duet of the Elton John Can You Feel the Love Tonight classic.
Anna
Director Luc Besson returns with another thriller involving a deadly female trained in the fine art of killing; (La Femme Nikita and Lucy). The movie stars former model Sasha Luss pulling a John Wick, minus the dog, on bad guys. The movie also stars Helen Mirren and Cillian Murphy, movie drops June 21st.
Homecoming
No disrespect to current Coachella performers but we’re still hung up on last year’s Beychella. Thankfully we can continue to watch the greatness in a Netflix documentary on the performance. The trailer is filled with incredible classic Beyonce hair flipping, twirling, and even Blue Ivy leading a group of dancers and showing them how it’s done. It’s a work of art unto itself. Homecoming drops April 17th and we can’t wait.
Wine Country
Last year, Netflix made headlines with nabbing Amy Poehler’s directorial debut that reunites a stellar cast of Saturday Night Live superstar alums. Poehler stars alongside Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Cherry Jones, and Jason Schwartzman. Now, Netflix has released the first trailer for Wine Country. The premise of the film is Poehler’s character Abby “plans a scenic Napa getaway with her best, longtime friends” to celebrate the 50th birthday of Dratch’s character, Rebecca. We can’t wait to watch the hilarity ensue, Wine Country heads to Netflix and select theaters on Friday, May 10th.
The Perfection
The first trailer for Netflix’s The Perfection had me at horror. Directed by Richard Shepard (Dom Hemingway), the movie stars Allison Williams (Get Out) as a music prodigy and Logan Browning (Dear White People) as a rising talent. The two reportedly go down a “sinister path with shocking consequences.” The Perfection premiered at last year’s Fantastic Fest and will drop May 24th.
Euphoria
HBO struck our fancy with Euphoria last month, now the trailer has dropped. The series is being described as “Kids meets Trainspotting,” which immediately caught our attention aside from being executive produced by Drake because of course, he is. The show stars the Greatest Showman actress as Rue, a teenage drug addict. It’s an adaptation of the Israeli series of the same name and this version’s cast also includes Sydney Sweeney, Maude Apatow, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Hunter Schafer, and Storm Reid.
Big Little Lies
HBO dropped another highly anticipated first trailer for the Big Little Lies’ second season. The ladies seem to be doing a good job at hiding the truth despite the scarlet letters on their backs but the townspeople have lingering suspicions about the “Monterey 5.” The arrival of Meryl Streep’s character, seeking justice for her murdered son also might put a damper on their lies. Big Little Lies premieres on June 9.
