Sony has released a trailer for Blumhouse's horror twist on the Fantasy Island television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984 (and had a brief revival in 1998), and I'm not sure about this one. I can go along with it if its basis is in the genre elements that were already present in the source material – there was something supernatural happening on that island, fantasies could go bad on the show, and Satan dropped by on more than one occasion. But if the movie turns island host Mr. Roarke, who was famously played by Ricardo Montalban in the original series, into a straightforward evil villain, I'm not going to be very enthusiastic about it.
Either way, I suppose a horror FANTASY ISLAND movie has a better chance of being successful than a drama would.
Directed by Jeff Wadlow from a script he wrote with Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs, this FANTASY ISLAND stars Michael Pena in the role of
the enigmatic Mr. Roarke, who makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives.
The cast also includes Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Michael Rooker, Ryan Hansen, Jimmy O. Yang, Charlotte McKinney, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Portia Doubleday, and Austin Stowell.
FANTASY ISLAND is set to reach theatres on February 14, 2020. The trailer is embedded above, and the poster can be seen below.