Jupiter Ascending Trailer Introduces Eddie Redmayne’s Over-The-Top Villain

Good or bad, it looks epic and gorgeous.

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old


After the box office failure of Cloud Atlas and Speed Racer, the Wachowskis really need a hit movie on their hands. They fell out of favor with the release of The Matrix Reloaded in 2003. While The Matrix Revolutions was considered a hit, I have yet to meet anyone who really liked the film as much as the previous two films in the series. Now the siblings are returning to the genre that made their careers successful with the science fiction action movie Jupiter Ascending, and we’ve got the latest trailer above.

The new trailer gives us a proper introduction to the film’s villain, Balem the King, played by Eddie Redmayne. Balem seems really over the top, some sort of evil space dandy who would rather destroy the world then hand it over to someone he considers his lesser. The character looks pretty broad, but the film’s tone seems overly serious. If it has some sort of campy element to it, which could be enjoyable if played correctly. Jupiter Ascending actually reminds me of David Lynch’s Dune, a film that looks to have a sprawling world and a story that feels like you need CliffsNotes to fully understand. If the film is full of sci-fi mumbo-jumbo such as “we need the spice” or “we have too many gravitons,” then that could definitely work on a cheesy and campy level.

The Wachowskis’ latest will face some stiff competition when it hits theaters in July. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes releases the week before, on July 11, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy arrives the week after, on August 1. The sci-fi movie might not even fare well against Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue, which comes out on the same day.

It seems like everyone involved with Jupiter Ascending can see the writing on the wall, and that’s probably why we’re hearing rumors about a new Matrix movie in the works. I’m going to keep an open mind when I walk into the theater, but it doesn’t look good for Andy and Lana Wachowski.

Jupiter Ascending follows Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a woman destined for great things, but who suffers from an endless run of bad breaks. Only when she meets Caine (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered alien hunter, does she begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along. She has a genetic signature that marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance as Queen of the Universe.

The Wachowskis’ next sci-fi film also stars Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Tuppence Middleton, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy, and Tim Pigott-Smith. The movie will open in theaters everywhere on July 18, 2014, in 3D and IMAX.