An enchanting family fantasy adventure movie is coming to Netflix

An upcoming Netflix original movie is looking enchanting, in a most literal sense, in its just-released trailer.

Spellbound has the potential to be one of the big family-friendly streaming hits of late 2024, and mines the same sort of heart-warming themes we see in the best of Disney and Pixar.

A young princess has to find a way to turn her parents, the king and queen of the kingdom, back from monsters to humans. Before it’s too late.

Take a look at the trailer if you’re not too worried about a few spoilers:

Spellbound stars Rachel Zegler as Princess Ellian, while her parents are played by Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman.

Other cast highlights include John Lithgow and Nathan Lane.

Vicky Jenson directs. She directed the original Shrek movie more than two decades ago, as well as Shark Tale and, more recently, the far less impressive Post Grad.

It’s written by Jenson, alongside Mulan (2020) writers Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin. Julia Miranda also contributed to the screenplay, according to IMDb.

The trailer is keen to highlight a whole slew of Pixar movies Spellbound is tangentially linked to, from Toy Story to Cars, presumably because John Lasseter is listed as a producer. Bit cheeky.

What the trailer doesn’t make clear is Spellbound is actually a musical. It features songs by Disney legend Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater.

The film was originally pencilled in for a 2022 release with Paramount. Then it was going to be an Apple TV+ film, before it became part of a Skydance Animation deal with Netflix in late 2023.

Its route to screen is actually even longer, though, having been announced in 2017 with a completely different title, Split.

Let’s hope this tortured path isn’t a sign Spellbound is not all that great. It’s only the second feature-length film from Skydance Animation, following 2022’s Luck.

Luck was released on Apple TV+, but received mixed and middling reviews. Let’s also hope Spellbound does a little better.

Spellbound will be available to watch on Netflix from November 22.

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