Hollywood is grabbing their childhood chest of toys, turning it upside down and shaking out every piece of intellectual property that entertained us as kids. One of the last remaining 80’s properties left at the bottom of the barrel was the cartoon Jem and the Holograms. This past March fans got their first look at the live-action incarnation of the property, in the film’s first trailer. However, there was a chorus of boos in fandom, that uniformly rejected the manufactured take on the property. It was largely disregarded because it looks like a cookie cutter behind-the-music tale, without any of the charm or science fiction that made the original series memorable.
The animated show was about a record executive that moonlighted as a pop superstar, who keeps her secret identity hidden with the use of a sophisticated hologram machine. The live-action feature film is being brought to life by director Jon M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation), who has experience with both narrative and concert films. It looks as if Jem and the Holograms will serve as an origin story for the singer and band, we will see if fans are interested in turning this movie into a full franchise.
The second trailer is close to the same as the initial trailer, however this look focuses on Jem’s computer program, or robot, Synergy. This program was a huge component of the original series, so it is clear that Universal heard the outcries after its absence in the first released footage. However, it is safe to assume most weren’t expecting to get a cheap rip-off of Earth to Echo either. This movie will be coming out in a few short months, so we won’t have to wait long to find out if there is more to this movie than the trailers suggest.
Official Synopsis:
As a small-town girl catapults from underground video sensation to global superstar, she and her three sisters begin a one-in-a-million journey of discovering that some talents are too special to keep hidden. In Universal Pictures’ JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS, four aspiring musicians will take the world by storm when they see that the key to creating your own destiny lies in finding your own voice.
Jem and the Holograms will be released October 23rd, 2015.
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Source: Universal