‘Annie’ Remake Premiers Its First Trailer [VIDEO]

The first official movie trailer for “Annie” released today!

Originally, it was going to be directed by Ryan Murphy, the man behind the hit, musical television series, “Glee“, However, Will Gluck, the director behind “Easy A”, will take the helm. Jay-Z and Will Smith are producing. Jay-Z will also be in charge of the score, which includes the original songs with a hip-hop vibe.

According to an article on Hypable, this remake is a modern retelling of the original story, which was set in the 1930s. The songs, “Hard Knock Life” and “Tomorrow”, are even featured in the trailer with the aforementioned hip-hop twist incorporated. However, the emotions that were synonymous with the original are still in place. By the end of the trailer, there seems to be a sense of warmth and happiness best associated with classical Disney or Shirley Temple films. Unfortunately, the internet is very unsure how to respond to the remake. The Washington Post included numerous tweets of reactions to the trailer, some negative and some positive. This is not surprising however because this movie is a classic. Whenever classics are announced to be remade, the reaction seems to always be mixed.

“Annie” is scheduled to be release sometime during the Christmas season. Below is the synopsis of the movie given by Movie Newz.

Based on the popular comic strip, Annie tells the extraordinary story of a little orphan who ends up in the lap of luxury with billionaire Benjamin Stacks, a variation of Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. Unlike most of the other children at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage, spunky Annie (Quvenzhané Wallis “Beasts of the Southern Wild”) believes that her parents are still alive and will one day return to claim her. So when Mr. Stacks offers to adopt her, she asks the most powerful man in America to help find her real mom and dad instead, and he agrees. Stacks’ whopping reward for Annie’s parents attracts the attention of con artists Rooster, Lily and the wicked Miss Hannigan, who hatch a plot to kidnap Annie and take the reward. The film is based on the Broadway musical stage play “Annie,” book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and on the “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip.

[Image via screen capture of official trailer]