The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for director Phillip Noyce’s (Salt) adaptation of the Lois Lowry novel The Giver.  The story takes place in a utopian society where all memories of the past reside with a sage figure known as “The Giver”.  Jeff Bridges plays the titular character and Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent) plays a young boy who has been selected to be the new Giver.  This trailer really wants the movie to look more like The Hunger Games and Divergent even though Lowry's novel 21-year-old book won the Newbery Medal.  It makes sense that they're trying to sell the dystopian angle even though I'd like to see more of Bridges.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Meryl Streep, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, Cameron Monaghan, and Taylor SwiftThe Giver opens August 15th.

Via The Weinstein Company.

Here's the official synopsis for The Giver:

The haunting story of THE GIVER centers on Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. The film is based on Lois Lowry's beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner the 1994 Newbury Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

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