Netflix Officially Releases First Trailer for Florence Pugh’s 7-Part Adaptation of Epic American Saga
A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."
An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.
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An American literary classic comes to blazing life in the first trailer for East of Eden. Florence Pugh stars in the new seven-episode series, which comes from the pen of Zoe Kazan; Kazan has a unique familial connection to the book through her grandfather, Hollywood legend Elia Kazan. The series will premiere exclusively on Netflix on October 1.
First published in 1952, John Steinbeck's tale has an epic sweep, opening during the US Civil War and ending as the United States enters World War I. Set in California's Salinas Valley, where Steinbeck was born and raised, it traces the history of the Trask family. Patriarch Adam Trask sets down roots there to become a farmer with his wife, Cathy; however, their marriage dissolves in blood and fury after the birth of their twin sons, Caleb and Aron. Eventually, the two come of age to seek their own fortune, unaware of their mother's true fate; the truth of that will tear the family asunder.
Pugh's Cathy Ames is front and center in the new trailer; it seems that she will play a key role in the series, in contrast to previous adaptations that utilized Cathy as a supporting character. In a voice-over, she ponders the nature of evil, and how it can be born of human parents; however, she may not yet realize who the true evil in this tale is. The trailer also features Christopher Abbott (Wolf Man) as Adam, Joseph Zada (We Were Liars) as Caleb, Joe Anders (Cape Fear) as Aron, Mike Faist (Challengers) as Adam's half-brother Charles, Tracy Letts (The Lowdown) as Adam's father, Martha Plimpton (Task) as Faye, a woman who takes Cathy in, and Hoon Lee (Your Friends and Neighbors) as Adam's employee Lee.
Has 'East of Eden' Been Adapted for the Screen Before?
East of Eden was previously adapted for the screen in 1955; Elia Kazan, Zoe's grandfather, directed the movie, which starred James Dean, Raymond Massey, and Jo Van Fleet. Van Fleet won an Oscar for her portrayal of Cathy, while Dean's electric performance inspired the likes of Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio; it was the only one of his own films that the doomed icon lived to see. That film only adapted the last portion of the novel, when Caleb and Aron are on the cusp of manhood, while the Netflix adaptation will adapt the entire book.
East of Eden will premiere on Netflix on October 1. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.