Everything we've seen for Phillip Noyce's feature adaptation of Lois Lowry's The Giver points to a couple of noticeable shifts from the source material. The characters' ages are a prime example, as is the emphasis on Odeya Rush's character Fiona, who's seen in the above poster, positioned slightly behind star Brenton Thwaites. Meryl Streep (Chief Elder) and Jeff Bridges (the titular Giver) are pictured as floating heads, shown in black and white as a demonstration of colorless utopia in which these characters exist. The contrast between a monochrome world and a colorful one is also demonstrated in the new stills released for The Giver.
In addition to featuring the faces of the four leads, the new poster shows off the promising cast of this adaptation. Along with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites and Odeya Rush, the cast also includes Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift. Left off the poster, but certainly not off our radar, is Shameless's Cameron Monaghan, who plays Jonas' friend Asher.
The Giver is set in a peaceful, colorless community where human suffering is at an all-time minimum.. All but the keeper of the community's memories (Bridges) are oblivious to the harsh reality of the past, which has been shielded from their awareness for generations. In the film, Jonas "begins to spend time with" the Giver and soon discovers the dark and deadly truths of his secret past.
The Weinstein Company released nine new photos, all of which focus on Jonas and his friend Fiona...
The previously released trailer gives away quite a bit about the plot, but all signs point toward the movie taking some big liberties with the source material, likely in an effort to bring the story more toward the tone (and audience) of the more successful book-to-screen adaptations in recent years. Whether or not it works out for the better remains to be seen. In the meantime, the trailer indicates that Fiona will play more than just a peer and vague crush for Jonas, as she is in the book. The trailer shows Jonas leaning in for a kiss with Fiona, and this photo shows another lip-to-lip moment between the two characters This time, it looks like she's taking a more active role in the smooch, as she has one hand on his arm and the other behind his neck.
We also get a look at Jonas and Fiona in a black and white scene...
And another colorful scene where Jonas has an apple.
In the book, the apple is one of the first things Jonas sees in color, but the trailer reveals another purpose for apples. Rather than pills, residents of the community receive a daily injection, which we see Jonas avoiding by using an apple...
So it's possible Jonas is telling Fiona how to avoid her own injection. Or he's trying to point out the color red. We can only guess. What's clear is that this isn't going to be a page for page adaptation. Few feature adaptations are, but all signs point toward some major adjustments in the way this story will be told.
The Giver arrives in theaters August 15.
