Less than a month since it wasrevealed when eager audiences could mark their calendarsto sit in a theater and watchMcG’sfilm adaptation ofScott Westerfeld’s novel,Uglieshas finally dropped its debut trailer. The feature-length version starsJoey King(The Kissing Boothfranchise) in the leading role of Tally Youngblood, a soon-to-be 16-year-old who is looking forward to receiving her long-awaited birthday present - plastic surgery to become “pretty.” Joining King in the first-look are members of the star-studded cast that also includesLaverne Cox(Orange is the New Black),Keith Powers(The Perfect Find),Brianne Tju(Prime Video’sI Know What You Did Last Summer) andChase Stokes(One of Us Is Lying).
The future is acolorful yet dystopian wonderlandin the debut look atUgliesas Tally (King) spends a few moments in front of a mirror dreaming about the day that she’ll become pretty. Hyping up the crowd of teens just one day away from their life-changing beauty procedure, Cox’s character looks ethereal and elegant as she tells her audience that no one will be “left behind”. But, as Tally soon begins to find, beauty is skin deep andthere’s something terribly wrong with her friends who have moved on to the “other side”. Introduced to another way of life, far away from the pressures and procedures of beauty standards,Tally is given a second chance to forge aheadin a life that she actually wants to lead. But when that safe haven comes under attack, Tally will be forced to turn against everything - and everyone - she knows for her future.
Joey King is Just as Stoked as Other Fans of Scott Westerfeld’s Novel
Netflix’s latestsci-fi dystopianproduction has been averylong time coming. The movie was first said to be in development nearly 20 years ago, just one year after Westerfeld’s novel landed on shelves. It went into hibernation for 15 years until 2020 when King announced that she would be starring in the streamer’s take on the beloved tale. One of the morepromising updates came from King herself back in 2022,when she gave fans a peek into the production process teasing that the filmmaker gave the entire cast a quick glance of the action to come.
“It was zero effects, zero coloring, zero special effects edited in, and it made my heart skip a beat because I’m such a big fan of this book series and have been since I was 11-years old, and I’ve wanted to play Tally Youngblood for that long. And now I made it happen with such a great group of people, and it’s looking fantastic.”
