The official trailer for Netflix's Slumberland shows off a horned Jason Momoa exploring the world of dreams. The upcoming film is a new adaptation of Winsor McCay's classic comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, which ran from 1905 through 1927. The series, which followed a young boy named Nemo experiencing fabulous adventures while he slept, has been adapted many times over the years into projects including plays, operas, and video games. Its most recent adaptation to film was the 1992 cult film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, a Japanese-American co-production from directors Masami Hata and William Hurtz, with an English voice cast that included Gabriel Damon, Danny Mann, and the late Mickey Rooney.
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Slumberland will be a modernized adaptation of the story centering on a young woman named Nema (Marlow Barkley), who is the daughter of Nemo (Kyle Chandler). The film, which is debuting on Netflix on November 18, was directed by Francis Lawrence, who is best known for helming the Hunger Games sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay. The script was penned by Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb co-writers David Guion and Michael Handelman, who are also attached to an upcoming adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon. The cast of the project also includes India de Beaufort, Weruche Opia, and Thor: The Dark World's Chris O'Dowd.
Today, Netflix unveiled the official trailer for Slumberland. It introduces Nema feeling imprisoned at an ordinary school, where she has been sent after the death of her father. However, when she goes to sleep her stuffed animal pig comes to life and her bed grows massive knobbly legs that take her to Slumberland, where she meets Momoa as her dad's former partner Flip. Flip is a humanoid being with huge, curved ram's horns who guides her on an adventure through the highs and lows of the dream world.
Can Slumberland Become Jason Momoa's Next Big Franchise?
The trailer for Slumberland reveals the film's lavish budget and huge imagination, qualities that may drive it to garner a sequel or perhaps even a franchise. If this were to be the case, this would become the second major franchise to star Momoa after his tenure playing Aquaman in the DCEU. Although he has participated in other big-name properties, including his stint on Game of Thrones season 1 and his upcoming appearance in Fast X, those are both supporting roles in larger ensembles.
Slumberland seems poised to be Netflix's latest big franchise built off the back of a superhero actor. They are utilizing a formula that they have already harnessed to great success with the Chris Hemsworth-led Extraction movies as well as this year's The Gray Man, which featured Chris Evans as a sociopathic villain and is now receiving both a sequel and a spin-off. However, only time will tell if the film garners as huge an audience as Netflix is expecting.