Yesterday Fox hosted a buzz-building event for its upcoming teen sci-fi flick Chronicle. A found-footage ditty that aims to do for sci-fi what Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield did for the horror and monster-movie genres, respectively (a less precise but more optimistic comparison would be District 9), it ponders what might occur if your average over-stimulated, under-supervised adolescents were to suddenly attain supernatural powers.
Comic-book lore mandates that the newly empowered teens would undergo a period of intense alienation, followed by the decision to don garish costumes and either A) vanquish evil; or B) perpetuate it. Human nature – and loads of empirical and anecdotal evidence regarding the hormone-fueled nihilism of teenagers -- suggests something else entirely, something Chronicle aims to illustrate when it hits theaters in February.
The latest clip from Chronicle, in which the film's three main characters play a game of supehero Jackass, provides clues as to the film’s ethos:
Check back later for a more in-depth rundown of the event, along with highlights from the day's Q&A with Chronicle director/co-story writer Josh Trank and Fox production executive Steve Asbell.