Blumhouse's New Imaginary Trailer Puts A Horrifying Spin On Childhood Whimsy

They only come along every once in a blue moon: the dueling movies. 1998 was an especially unusual year in that it saw two of them hitting theaters, with killer asteroid films "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" going head-to-head within the same 12-month span as the animated insect flicks "Antz" and "A Bug's Life." There haven't been too many since then, save for the clash of the White House action-thrillers in 2013 with "Olympus Has Fallen" and "White House Down." (For our purposes, I'm not including the years when we get multiple adaptations of the same work, like when Guillermo del Toro and Robert Zemeckis unveiled their respective "Pinocchio" films a mere three months apart.) Now, 2024 is bringing us the next big showdown between movies with remarkably similar premises. 

The unexpected shared theme? Imaginary friends.

Okay, fine, so John Krasinski's family-friendly "IF" and Jeff Wadlow's horror thriller "Imaginary" seem to have almost nothing in common besides revolving around children's imaginary pals. Nevertheless, there's no denying it's a little strange that we're getting two films based on that exact same premise in quick succession. The former of these two takes what you could refer to as the "Inside Out" approach, depicting imaginary friends as being extensions of a child's mind (à la Bing Bong), from their colorful appearances to their kidlike demeanor. The latter, on the other hand, portrays them as being ancient monsters who have tormented humans ever since we learned to walk upright. Check out the new "Imaginary" trailer above.

The "M3GAN" vibes are strong in the latest "Imaginary" trailer footage, especially the opening commercial for the film's haunted plaything, Chauncey the Bear™. Not that one can blame Blumhouse for hoping lightning will strike again after Gerard Johnstone's 2023 sci-fi-horror hit gave it a fancy new feather to add to its cap. What's more, this preview is unashamedly eager to remind everyone of all the great work that directors who are not named Jeff Wadlow have done for Blumhouse in the past, including "The Invisible Man" helmer Leigh Whannell and "The Black Phone" filmmaker Scott Derrickson. "From the guy who gave you 'Truth or Dare' and that 'Fantasy Island' reboot you've almost definitely forgotten exists" just doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Wadlow's filmography isn't all misses, admittedly (select members of the /Film team are ready and willing to defend "Cry_Wolf"), so it's possible "Imaginary" may yet surprise us. Failing that, it appears Wadlow and his co-writers Greg Erb and Jason Oremland have essentially given us a grislier re-imagining of the Disney Channel Original Movie "Don't Look Under the Bed," which is certainly not a sentence I anticipated writing when I woke up this morning.

"Imaginary" opens in theaters on March 8, 2024. Its synopsis reads as follows:

When Jessica (DeWanda Wise) moves back into her childhood home with her family, her youngest stepdaughter Alice (Pyper Braun) develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey she finds in the basement. Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that begin playful and become increasingly sinister. As Alice's behavior becomes more and more concerning, Jessica intervenes only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believed him to be.