Focus features has released a bevy of promotional videos for its upcoming sci-fi romantic comedy, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.
The premise is fairly simply. Basically, a meteor is set to destroy the world, and every person is going to die.
Still, this isn’t a flick about finding the hero who will save us all, it’s more about one of the little guys out in the crowds of people who expect the end to come, and how his life is torn apart, and then brought back together again by the news of the end of the world.
The protagonist’s wife leaves when the news arrives, eager to make her last days count. An accounting which obviously does not include Steve Carell’s character. Thinking he will now die alone, he is surprised to find a note from an old sweetheart, who wants to spend the end of the world with him. His attractive neighbor, played by Keira Knightley, decides to join him on his road trip to meet up with this old flame, and as can be guessed, the journey brings the two of them together.
These clips illustrate some of the crazy characters the duo meet in their cross-country journey.
This first one is the film’s take on what might happen to all those overly-familiar bar-and-grill type places in the last days:
One of the protagonist’s acquaintances tries to convince him that now is the time for gobs of casual sex:
and in this one, we see Carell’s character attempt to keep working in his position at the insurance company.
We also have this featurette which gives a bit more footage (though mostly stuff we’ve already seen) along with some clips from interviews with the cast and crew on set.
I’m usually not into romantic comedies, but, dare I say it: This one looks like a lot of fun. I wasn’t sure about the team of Carell and Knightley when I first heard about it (I think I was picturing the Carell of 40 Year Old Virgin and the Knightley of Pirates of the Caribbean, which didn’t seem to work), but this trailer gives me confidence they can pull it off.
The science fiction elements here are obviously very soft, and mostly serve as plot device, but it’s still an interesting look into the lighter side of the behavior of a world full of doomed people, and the film won’t be entirely without special effects.
It’s looks like it’s going to be a really great geek date movie, though the broad appeal of the film likely won’t stop there, with the draw of the two powerful stars, and the really clever trailer, it’s going to bring a lot more than geek couples. I’m predicting a huge box-office take for this film, relative to other romantic comedies at least, and perhaps afterward, a deluge of sci-fi/fantasy romantic comedies at the theaters.
Here’s the theatrical trailer, for reference:
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World drops out of the sky on June 22, 2012.
