Paramount Pictures has released the latest trailer for Annihilation, from Ex Machina writer/director Alex Garland. While the first teaser evoked the atmospheric creepiness of Jeff VanderMeer’s novel, this one leans more toward Jurassic Park.
For one, the overgrown Area X seems to have be renamed as “the Shimmer,” a rapidly expanding boundary that threatens to swallow up more of the real world if the source of its power is not discovered. And once the expedition (made up of Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tuva Novotny) ventures inside, there seem to be a lot more mutated beasts—like that snarling skull creature—than in the novel, which has more of an emphasis on the insidious plant, not animal, life.
Obviously there are changes in any adaptation, and this trailer does still feature arresting shots of ivy, lichen, and all manner of consuming plants. We’ll have to see how Garland translated the first novel of VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy for the big screen. Watch the trailer and judge for yourself:
Annihilation comes to theaters February 23.
