Disney Pixar debuted its first trailer forits next movie,Lucaas well as casting details. The movie is set for a summer 2021 release and tells the story of two boys with a double life.Pixar’slatest existential celestial body-swap filmSoul, debuted on both Disney Plus and in theaters on Christmas day last year and received high critical praise.
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The film centers around the friendship of two young boys in a beautiful seaside Italian town who share a big secret: they are both mermaid-like sea creatures. Jacob Trembly (Room,Wonder) voices the titular Luca in the movie with Jack Dylan Grazer (It,Shazam!) as his aquatic friend. Emma Berman will have her debut as the boys’ misfit friend, Giulia. Luca’s parents are played by Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan. Italian comedian Saverio Raimondo voices the movie’s villain and Italian theater actor and director Maro Barricelli is set to play Giulia’s fisherman father.
Lucais the first feature movie to be directed by Enrico Casarosa. He directedthe short filmLa Lunawhich was run in theaters before 2011’sBrave. The short featured a boy and his father on a boat who set anchor on the moon and it earned him an academy award nomination for best animated short.
The teaser trailer that Pixar debuted today gives a first glimpse of these characters in action. It’s full of beautiful imagery of the two boys running and biking through gorgeous Italian landscapes in summer. We also see the first footage of these characters as they transform into their sea creature form and statues of similarly looking sea creatures being hunted around the town set up the stakes.
The trailer paints the scene for a portion of the movie to focus on these characters enjoying summer together in Italy and it shares a strong resemblance to the films of Italian director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name). The name of this film and the casting of Jack Dylan Grazer indicate that these similarities are no coincidence. Grazer was the star of Guadagnino’s most recent project, aminiseries calledWe Are Who We Arefor HBO and Sky Atlantic.
Pixar has maintained a reputation of being a studio that entertains children and adults alike and it looks like Luca could be another winning movie in its collection. Although its early to make that call it is clear that Luca continuesPixar’slegacy of amazing visuals and a great cast of voice actors.
