The new trailer for Welcome to Marwen dives deeper into the story of director Robert Zemeckis' film, which itself is based on Jeff Malmberg's award-winning 2010 documentary Marwencol. Steve Carell stars in Zemeckis' movie as Mark Hogancamp, an artist who is left with severe brain damage after being assaulted and nearly killed by a pack of men at a bar. No longer able to function like he did before, Mark begins to construct a miniature WWII-era village called Marwen as a form of self-therapy, with the encouragement of the women in his life.
Leslie Mann (Blockers), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures), and Eiza González (Baby Driver) are among those who play The Women of Marwen (as the film was originally titled, fittingly) in Welcome to Marwen, both in the movie's real world and the imaginary setting that Mark fashions in his own backyard. With Universal Pictures' musical sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again hitting theaters later this week, the studio is using the occasion to drop a fresh trailer for Zemeckis' project, well ahead of its premiere this December. You can watch said trailer in the space above.
Related: Bad Robot's Twisted WWII Horror/Thriller Overlord Gets a Trailer
Much like the first Welcome to Marwen trailer, this second preview drives home the idea that Zemeckis' film incorporates quasi-magical realism into the actual Mark Hogancamp's tale. This approach brings to mind what Zemeckis did with his 2015 film The Walk, which (like Welcome to Marwen) is partly based on a documentary. Whereas that feature leaned into the real-life fairy tale and caper aspects of the story that inspired it, Zemeckis' latest project embraces fantasy in a different manner.
Universal moved Welcome to Marwen's release date back to late December shortly after the first trailer was released last month. As it now stands, the film is set to open directly against four other major wide releases (Aquaman, Bumblebee, Holmes & Watson, and Alita: Battle Angel) and arrive just two days after Disney's sequel Mary Poppins Returns hits the scene. Hence, it's all the more important that Welcome to Marwen's marketing leaves a lasting impression and the film start generating positive buzz well ahead of its release, if it's going to avoid getting left behind in the winter holiday movie stampede.
Fortunately, Zemeckis' film has a few things working in its favor. Its trailers suggest Welcome to Marwen may yet succeed in seamlessly blending heartfelt drama and whiz-bang entertainment, much like Zemeckis' most beloved movies past have (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and so on). Similarly, it's probably for the best that Zemeckis and his cowriter, Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands, Black Beauty) aren't trying to beat Marwencol at its own game here. Instead, they seem to be vying to deliver a very different kind of cinematic experience with their own account of Mark's remarkable recovery process.
MORE: Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased Gets a Trailer & Poster
Source: Universal Pictures
