We’ll be getting one of our most-anticipated films of next year quite soon into 2018. Alex Garland‘s Ex Machina follow-up Annihilation, an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, stars Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar Isaac, and David Gyasi, and a new trailer has arrived today. The film features a group of women — an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and a biologist — who embark on a dangerous, secret expedition where the laws of nature don’t apply.
Recently, there’s been reports of a behind-the-scenes clash on the post-production and distribution of the film. Long story short: Garland seems to have been faithful to the peculiar, enigmatic source material, which may be off-putting to audiences expecting a palatable sci-fi thriller. So, Paramount struck a profitable deal with Netflix for those outside the U.S., Canada, and China and the film will arrive on their streaming platform 17 days after its February 23 release. In other words, we still get the film Garland wanted to make and everyone around the world will be able to see it in a relatively short span of time.
Check out the preview below, which introduces some horror elements.
Annihilation opens on February 23, 2018.