‘Lord of the Flies’ Trailer Brings the 72-Year-Old Novel To Terrifying Life

This first teaser trailer has been released for the highly anticipated new adaptation of Lord of the Flies has been released online. While it’s only a brief look at the show, just those 40 seconds are enough to indicate that the upcoming series will be a faithful interpretation of the iconic novel and its dark story. Additionally, the series has revealed its release schedule, with the entirety of the series dropping on the BBC iPlayer starting on Sunday, February 8, with the BBC One network airing the series weekly that same day at 9PM. Unfortunately, no deals for U.S. streaming have been solidified or revealed yet.

What makes this latest adaptation of Lord of the Flies so exciting is the creative team behind it. Jack Thorne wrote the series, and the writer has most recently received plenty of acclaim and buzz for his work on the hit series Adolescence. That series recently took home eight Emmy Awards during the show’s 77th broadcast in September of last year. That show tackled very similar themes of youth and corruption, earning this new Lord of the Flies series much more buzz and excitement. The young cast bringing the novel to life also looks to be providing a new level of authenticity, which will make the story hit that much harder.

In the brief trailer (which can be viewed below), viewers get a small glimpse into the massive ensemble of young boys who portray a group of British schoolboys who become stranded on an island. The trailer starts off innocent enough, with one of the boys saying that they need to look out for each other and be good camp mates. Unfortunately, anyone who’s read the book will know that things eventually devolve from there, with the last 20 seconds of the trailer teasing the dark descent the group will eventually take into tribalism.

The ‘Lord of the Flies’ Looks to Be an Intense and Faithful Adaptation

Ralph (Winston Sawyers) is at the forefront of the teaser trailer, and there are also some short scenes that highlight his main form of support in Piggy (David McKenna). One of the characters that will be most interesting to see be brought to life is Jack (Lox Pratt), who begins to upset the balance and seeks to take over the leadership of the group of boys, doing so through his aspirations to go hunting in the jungle. The teaser trailer ends before we get to see any of the real chaos unfold, though BBC iPlayer viewers will get to experience the entirety of the four-part series when it drops next month.

The Lord of the Flies series is produced by Eleven, a production company owned by Sony. So, while there are no concrete plans for an international release outside the U.K., it will be Sony Television that will be handling the international distribution of the adaptation. Given the company’s recent dealings with Netflix for its impressive catalog of titles, it would be unsurprising if Lord of the Flies ends up on the streaming service shortly after its release in the U.K.