People who can turn into animals and a school to learn to control their own powers: Germany is getting its own Harry Potter-style fantasy epic and now the first trailer is available.
The year 2024 has many a fantasy film up its sleeve, but probably the most exciting project from Germany is the film adaptation of a major book success: now the first trailer for Woodwalkers gives an insight into the large-scale adaptation, which will launch an entire fantasy trilogy.
Trailer for Woodwalkers shows epic fantasy from Germany with some Harry Potter parallels
Almost every child in Germany knows the Woodwalkers book series by Katja Brandis. You can’t get past the novel covers with big children’s faces – half animal, half human – in any bookshop. There are now over 20 volumes of the shapeshifter world, which regularly conquer the Spiegel bestseller lists. Now the film adaptation of the first fantasy story (Volume 1: Carag’s Transformation) is also set to conquer cinema screens. The first teaser trailer promises great things
Watch the first teaser trailer for the fantasy film Woodwalkers here:
At the center of Woodwalkers is Carag (Emile Chérif), who is a cougar shifter. This means he can put on the body of both a human boy and a mountain lion. Principal Lissa Clearwater (Martina Gedeck) invites him to her American boarding school: At the magical school Clearwater High in the Rocky Mountains, he is to learn to better control his abilities.
Carag quickly makes friends with bison shifter Brandon (Johan von Ehrlich) and red squirrel shifter Holly (Lilli Falk). But mean classmates such as wolf shifter Jeffrey (Emil Bloch) and Carag’s mysterious patron Andrew Milling (Oliver Masucci) also ensure that attending school becomes a great adventure. So here we can expect an elaborate fantasy from home, because although Woodwalkers is set in the USA, filming took place in Germany and the Alps.
With a trio of friends at the center, a magical boarding school, school enemies, good and unpleasant teachers and a big villain in the background, Woodwalkers already has many elements that identify the fantasy film adaptation as a German Harry Potter, even if the story naturally goes its own way
When will the fantasy film Woodwalkers be released in cinemas?
The first Woodwalkers film will be released on November 21, 2024, and the rest of the trilogy, which will probably be based on Carag’s 6-volume novel cycle (season 1 of the Woodwalkers world), already has release dates: Part 2 of the fantasy series is scheduled to arrive on January 29, 2026 and Part 3 January 28, 2027.
