He’s already offered up a Ghostbusters movie and dipped his toes into the thriller genre with A Simple Favor, but for his latest project director Paul Feig is trying his hand at family-friendly fantasy. The Bridesmaids filmmaker is the brains behind The School for Good and Evil, which looks like it could be Netflix’s answer to the Harry Potter franchise, going by this first-look trailer. The teaser just arrived this Tuesday as per the streaming giant’s Geeked Week festivities. Check it out above.
As based on the best-selling middle-grade novel of the same name from author Soman Chainani, School for Good and Evil follows two best friends who are forcibly enlisted at the titular magical academy, which sorts children into two different tracks: the kids destined to be good and those doomed to become wicked. Against all the odds, the sunny Sophie is enlisted in the bad school while oddball Agatha is put in the good class. As they try to navigate their switched fortunes, the girls’ friendship is put to the test.
Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie feature in the lead roles, with Feig honoring Potterverse tradition by hiring an A-list ensemble cast to play the school’s faculty members. Laurence Fishburne is the School Master, with other educators including Michelle Yeoh as Professor Anemone, Charlize Theron as Lady Lesso, and Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey. Ben Kingsley, Rob Delaney, and Rachel Bloom are also on board in undisclosed roles.
This is Feig’s first film since 2019’s romcom Last Christmas, although he’s been busy working on a bunch of projects since then. There’s his Universal horror flick Dark Army, that he’s still determined to get made, and the recently announced sequel to A Simple Favor, which will bring back Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. As for The School for Good and Evil, make sure to catch that when it conjures onto Netflix this September.