How many people out there in the world have Jack the Giant Slayer as their most anticipated movie of 2013? With the exception of maybe Bryan Singer‘s mother — and that’s a big maybe — probably not many. That’s most likely due to the film’s nonexistent buzz. The first trailer landed with a major thud, so major I still recall the awkward dead silence and indifference towards it at a screening. Shortly after that trailer dropped, the movie lost its summer 2012 release date. Months later the movie received even more disheartening news. After Digital Domain hit hard times, word started to spread the project was in such bad shape employees were calling it “Jack The Company Killer.” Hopefully in the time since all this news broke, some serious measures have been taken.
Sadly, this new trailer would lead us to believe otherwise.
Apple premiered it, since Warner Bros. wanted to show off how wonderful these CG giants appear in high-definition:
Okay, not at all wonderful.
It doesn’t help that the whole trailer feels off. From the way we see star Nicolas Hoult interacting with the CG characters and environments to the iffy taglines and costumes, there is an inherent clunkiness to this preview which is so unlike Singer. If his name wasn’t on the film, along with his equally talented frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, it would be even easier to write off Jack the Giant Slayer as one of 2013′s projects heading for doom. However, with those talents behind the project, it could also turnout to be next year’s biggest surprise. Let’s hope for that.
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Jack the Giant Slayer opens in theaters on March 1, 2013.