Trailer Talk: The Exorcist: Believer, The Marvels, and more!

The Exorcist: Believer

Nice touch at the end there, I like the homage to that unreleased trailer for the first Exorcist. I will say, I am a bit skeptical. This feels like such a strange IP to do the whole legacy sequel routine with. Why bring Ellen Burstyn back? What could she possible do to help with this situation? I’m sure there’s an explanation for it in the film itself. Granted, I believe the new Halloween trilogy actively got better with each installment, and I loved Halloween Ends. If David Gordon Green and his collaborators are planning on bringing that level of experimentation and risk, then I am definitely on board. But just based on this trailer, I’ll just remain cautiously optimistic.

The Exorcist: Believer hits theaters on October 13th.

The Marvels

This looks fun, I hope Nia DaCosta is getting a nice, fat paycheck. I recently finished Secret Invasion, and it’s not very good. I can’t immediately tell if this is meant to follow that or if the order got messed up for a variety of reasons. At this point, I’m not really invested in the whole U part of the MCU. I just wanna have some fun adventures with characters I like. It looks like this might deliver in that regard, and I don’t particularly care how it affects the overall narrative. Plus, I’m just happy to see more of Iman Vellani, she’s a delight.

The Marvels will be released in theaters on November 10th.

Nandor Fodor And The Talking Mongoose

Interesting seeing Simon Pegg do his best Christop Waltz impression. Jokes aside, I have heard of this story, and it’s super fascinating. Consider me on the skeptical side of things, but it’s an amusing story nonetheless, and I’m glad to see it get the movie treatment. I like the vibe of this. Pegg has a tendency to get into weird and dark stories whenever you see him not attached to an IP or working with his usual collaborators. Haven’t heard of Adam Sigal, but this appears to be his most high profile film to date, so don’t know what to expect, but I am very curious.

Nandor Fador And The Talking Mongoose hits select theaters on September 1st before being available on digital platforms on September 19th.

Migration

OK, so it’s kind of like a National Lampoon Vacation style road movie, but…you know…with ducks. OK. I think I can get with that. Looks like there’s some fun hijinks to be had here. I feel like I already have the entire movie mapped out in my head, but the appeal of something like this is the jokes and the characters, not so much the plot itself. Looks decent. I’ll definitely give it a shot.

Migration hits theaters on December 22nd.

The Monkey King

Yeah, sure, this looks fine enough. It’s definitely a story that’s been told many times, but for good reason. This irreverent take might bring something new to the table. Plus, having an industry vet like Anthony Stacchi direct is a good move. Jimmy O. Yang’s voice work here is…interesting, as if he’s phoning it in, but in the best way. Some readings remind me of some of those clips from that Pauly Shore Pinocchio movie, and I swear I mean that in a good way. Netflix animated stuff tends to lean better overall than the live action stuff, so I’ll give this a shot.

The Monkey King premieres exclusively on Netflix on August 18th.

King Coal

Didn’t even realize at first that this was a documentary, but I really like what this is doing from a filmmaking perspective. It’s very evocative and ethereal, does a great job at creating a sense of place and history. The subject matter certainly lends itself to some rich storytelling given the history of coal in the United States, even to the title that this doc uses is a bold and layered choice. This wasn’t on my radar, but now I really want to check this out.

King Coal opens in select theaters starting August 11th.

Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!