One of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's best-known and best-loved operas is perhaps The Magic Flute, a story of romance, adventure, some light family drama, and the triumph of light over dark. While adaptations of the classic have been few over the last decade and a half, the Roland Emerich-produced film The Magic Flute promises to bring the story to a new audience in a thrilling way, and Collider is excited to exclusively share the North American trailer.
Rather than being a straightforward adaptation of Mozart's opera, the trailer focuses on a young student named Tim (Jack Wolfe), who attends the Mozart All Boys Music School. As if the high-stress environment and trials of being a teenager weren't enough, he soon finds himself literally pulled into another world — specifically that of Mozart's classic opera, where larger-than-life figures like the Queen of the Night, Sarastro, and a particular giant serpent are all very real.
Interestingly, this approach of adapting the story by adding a new protagonist to interact with Tamino, Pamina, Papageno, and the other characters is fairly common, with many adaptations approaching the story through the lens of a musician or performer who becomes absorbed in some way or another into the story. This new film looks to be taking that approach while really leaning into the dramatic and fantastical elements that have helped the opera stand the test of time — and scoring the trailer to the Queen of the Night's famous aria definitely helps set that epic tone.
Who Is In The Magic Flute Cast?
In addition to Wolfe, the film also stars legendary actor F. Murray Abraham as the headmaster of the music school. This is not Abraham's first Mozart-related project, as he also famously appeared in 1984's Amadeus, playing Italian composer Antonio Salieri opposite Tom Hulce's Mozart. Also featured in the cast are Iwan Rheon, Stéfi Celma, Asha Banks, Stefan Konarske, Niamh McCormack, Amir Wilson and Tedros Teclebrhan. The cast will also feature international opera stars Sabine Devieilhe from the Opéra National de Paris, Morris Robinson from New York's Metropolitan Opera, and Rolando Villazón.
The Magic Flute hits theaters on March 10. Check out the North American trailer, poster, and synopsis below:
From Executive Producer Roland Emmerich (Moonfall) comes a captivating film that follows a teen on two journeys: one into a prestigious boarding school to fulfill his aspirations as a singer, and another into a parallel world filled with fantasy and adventure. Tim (Jack Wolfe, Shadow And Bone) has been dreaming his whole life about attending Mozart All Boys Music School, but already his first days there confront him with a hostile headmaster (F. Murray Abraham, The White Lotus), the stresses of a first love, and serious doubts about the authenticity of his singing voice. When he discovers a mystical gateway in the school’s library, he is pulled into the fantastic cosmos of Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute, where imagination has no limits and the Queen of the Night (Sabine Devieilhe) reigns.