If even half the reports coming out about Monster Trucks are true, it’s safe to say that Paramount’s action movie endured a torrid time during development.
Initially on course to race into theaters late next month, a delay to production coupled with a “a programming impairment charge” led Paramount to scale back the movie’s box office projections, as it quietly braces for a reported $115 million loss. That’s fairly damning for a movie that’s still to hit theaters, and at least based on today’s all-new trailer, it looks like Monster Trucks will live or die depending on how well it resonates with kids.
Directed by Ice Age helmer Chris Wedge, the wildly over-the-top actioner stars Lucas Till as Tripp, a high school senior who soon comes into owning an actual monster truck. Also starring Jane Levy, Rob Lowe, Amy Ryan, Holt McCallany, Barry Pepper, Tucker Albrizzi, Danny Glover and Frank Whaley, it looks as though someone took the story beats of Free Willy and Transformers and lumped them into a cinematic blender. How will Wedge’s action romp fare with audiences? Time will tell.
A January release date isn’t one to inspire confidence, but we fully expect this new Monster Trucks trailer to screen before Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them over the course of the weekend. Perhaps that will be enough to pull in a more younger audience? January 13 is the date for your diaries.
Looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into, Tripp (Lucas Till), a high school senior, builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend. Melding cutting edge visual effects and state-of-the-art CGI, Monster Trucks is an action filled adventure for the whole family that will keep you on the edge of your seat and ultimately touch your heart.
