New Trailer for THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS

The House with a Clock in Its Walls, despite being a straight-up kids movie with a release date in the dead of September, is one of my most anticipated of the fall if not of the entire year. Why you might ask? Well, first there is Jack Black who has done well to understand the current phase of his career and with last year's Jumanji sequel as well as Goosebumps he is kind of establishing himself as the guy that will be fondly remembered by the tweens and younger teens of the current generation for being the funny dude in all of their favorite movies-that is, if this turns out to be as good as it promises to be. Better even, when those same kids get older, they can go back and discover even more of Black's rather impressive collection of work. Second, this is a kids movie with Cate freakin' Blanchett in it. Now, I know Blanchett has been doing a more commercially viable popcorn work lately with the last Thor film and Ocean's 8, but it seems it would take a really great script or idea or whatever it is at the heart of this story that is based on John Bellairs' 1973 novel of the same name to entice her into doing something explicitly for the children. That said, the actress looks as if she is having a great time with this role as she gets to play a witch who lives next door to Black's Warlock as he introduces his young nephew (Daddy's Home alum Owen Vaccaro) to a world of magic and sorcery. Third, and this is more a point of curiosity than intrigue, is the fact Eli Roth is directing. Yes, that would be the Eli Roth who made Cabin Fever and Hostel and who starred in Inglorious Basterds, but who hasn't had a hit movie since maybe The Green Inferno (maybe? It barely made it's $5 million budget back, but it created a fair amount of conversation at the time). All of that taken into account, it will be interesting to see how the guy who's already re-made Death Wish earlier this year fares with full-on kids material. My hope is that with his sensibilities, if they were well-balanced, he was able to keep the film appropriately scary while injecting an underlying quality of sincere terror. The point being, I'm always down for a movie aimed at kids that looks as if it could become a Halloween staple and this certainly seems to have all the ingredients to create such a favorite. The House with a Clock in Its Walls also stars Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams, Sunny Suljic, and opens on September 21st, 2018.



Synopsis: In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.

Based on the beloved children’s classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is directed by master frightener Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV’s Supernatural). Co-starring Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams and Sunny Suljic, it is produced by Mythology Entertainment’s Brad Fischer (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), as well as Kripke.