It's time to stand up and sing with the new trailer for Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical. Netflix's new film offers a twist on the classic book, adapting the Tony Award-winning stage play that turns the classic Roald Dahl novel into a roaring musical. The extended look at the film pulls the curtain back on its massive, magical, and musical sequences setting up a revolt led by Matilda (Alisha Weir) against the tyrannical headmistress Ms. Trunchbull (Emma Thompson).
Starting off rather upbeat, the trailer emphasizes Matilda's imagination and her love of escaping the world through the power of books. With her encouraging teacher Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch) at Crunchem Hall noticing her brilliance, it seems like she finally has a place to escape the cruelty of her parents who stifle her creativity and passion for reading. Once the music gets tense, it shows exactly what the school is - an oppressive prison. Thompson plays a delightfully creepy and sinister Trunchbull whose abusiveness is on full display, chucking a child over the fence by the pigtails. She gets especially frustrated, however, when Matilda decides to defy her. Secretly harboring telekinetic abilities, she uses them to lead an uprising against the dangerous Trunchbull in one final, massive number that shows off the stakes and the absolutely massive scale of the film.
The story of Matilda has already been adapted to screen, albeit with a few key differences in Danny DeVito's beloved 1996 film, but this trailer really highlights the musical aspect of the film. Whether seeing the children stiff and leering while singing of Crunchem's abuses on the playground or the painstakingly choreographed sequences throughout the halls of the academy or in the cafeteria during the notorious cake scene, it adds a sense of gravitas to the adaptation.
Matilda the Musical recently opened the London Film Festival where it struck a chord with critics, garnering a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The production was led by acclaimed theater director Matthew Warchus who previously won a Tony Award for his production of God of Carnage and an Olivier Award for the Royal Shakespeare Company Matilda adaptation which would kick off the musical's record-breaking run across West End and Broadway. Alongside Weir, Thompson, and Lynch, he also got to work with Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, and Sindhu Vee in his cast.
Warchus also re-teamed with the musical's original scribe Dennis Kelly to adapt the musical to film with Tim Minchin providing the original music and lyrics. Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan produced the film for Working Title alongside Jon Finn and Luke Kelly of The Roald Dahl Story Company.
Matilda the Musical brings the musical revolt to Netflix on December 25 after a limited run in theaters beginning on December 9. Check out the new trailer below.