‘Annie’ trailer: Jamie Foxx, Quvenzhane Wallis lay out ‘the hustle’
A new, plot-driven trailer for “Annie†provides a few more glimpses of how the Will Gluck-directed remake is updating the beloved stage and screen musical about an orphan girl who gets taken in by a New York City tycoon during the Depression.
This time around, the setting has moved to modern Manhattan, with Quvenzhane Wallis in the title role and Jamie Foxx as Will Stacks, the movie’s equivalent of Daddy Warbucks.
Unlike the more aloof Warbucks, Stacks is a well-meaning, self-made mogul and mayoral candidate prone to spouting platitudes such as, “No matter who you are or what you are, you just gotta want it bad enough.†He also appears to be developing something of a Batman complex, insisting, “This city needs me.â€
Stacks also comes into Annie’s life differently than Warbucks did in the 1982 film: His poll numbers get a boost when he saves Annie from getting hit by a van, and from that point, “the hustle,†as Annie calls it, is on: He gets good PR, and she gets to live in the lap of luxury.
The new trailer also gives a bit of screen time to Rose Byrne, as Stacks’ hard-working assistant and presumable love interest, and Bobby Cannavale, as his campaign advisor.
Set for release by Columbia Pictures on Dec. 19, “Annie†is produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and hip-hop mogul Jay Z.
Jay Z, who famously sampled the Broadway musical version of “Annie†for his third album, is rumored to be writing new songs for the movie.
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
