'Okja' Premiere: Netflix Launches New Trailer
Netflix has recently unveiled the full trailer of the South Korean sci-fi film "Okja," which is directed and co-written by "Snowpiercer" director Bong Joon-ho.
According to Den of Geek, the upcoming film showcases a plot that is almost akin to a Disney film but laced with much darker themes. The movie focuses on the titular creature — a giant grey pig-type creature that resembles an oversized land-walking manatee — and the special bond it forms with a young girl named Mija (An Seo-hyun).
The animal becomes the center of conflict between the Mirando Corporation of Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton), which genetically created Okja specifically to become super-stock that could end world hunger, and a group of activists that include Jay (Paul Dano) and K (Steven Yeun).
The new trailer has been released in the aftermath of an "Okja" teaser trailer. The teaser is a viral video-style clip featuring Lucy Mirando as she promotes the belief that her company's genetically modified and "more delicious" pigs will save the world from catastrophes such as famine and climate change. The video also refers to the URL superpigproject.com, which explains more of the animal's backstory.
The movie has recently been the subject of controversy after producer Netflix refused to screen it in French cinemas. A recent screening at the Cannes Film Festival had to be stopped after the film was booed in its first few minutes.
The audience booed at the Netflix logo, which appeared prior to the start of the film, and it soon became apparent that the movie was playing in the wrong aspect ratio. The movie was stopped and then restarted without explanation.
"There was shouting from the upper seats and it became apparent the aspect ratio was wrong, so they restarted it after about 10 minutes," Lauren Turner of BBC, who attended the screening, said. "The second time around the audience booed the Netflix logo again. But there was also some cheering at the same time and a warm round of applause at the end."
A statement from the Cannes Film Festival on the issue was subsequently released, saying: "This incident was entirely the responsibility of the Festival's technical service, which offers its apologies to the director and his team, to the producers and the audience."
"Okja" is scheduled to make its debut on Netflix on June 28, but will also subsequently get a limited theatrical release in the United States.
