The Sorcerer's Apprentice Movie Trailer

When I first heard about Jon Turtletaub's Sorcerer's Apprentice movie, I didn't really know what to expect. My first exposure to the property was in Disney's Fantasia adaptation of the musical poem by Paul Dukas (itself an adaptation of the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) about a sorcerer who brings a broom to life to help him carry water, but finds himself unable to control the consequences. I was a huge fan of the way the animation creatively dramatized the poem, all while incorporating Disney's most popular icon, Mickey Mouse.

We now have a trailer for The Sorcerer's Apprentice and what I can definitively say is that this is not what I expected. Watch the trailer in glorious HD over at Apple, or see an embedded version below. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Some initial thoughts: Based on the trailer, this film seems to expands on the initial premise considerably, to that point that it is basically unrecognizable when compared to the Disney original (although presumably there will still be a scene of that iconic broom situation, which I've screencapped above). I've always been a fan of Jay Baruchel, who plays the apprentice, so I'm glad to see him getting work here in a role that seems perfectly suited to him. But perhaps the biggest surprise here is Nicholas Cage. I think the last role I enjoyed him in unironically was probably around the time he did Lord of War (admittedly, I haven't seen the new Bad Lieutenant yet). For the few glimpses of him that we get in this trailer, he actually looks...watchable? Good, even. What do you think?

Has Turtletaub ever made a good adventure film? Maybe if we're lucky, it'll at least be a fun one.

Here's the original plot description: Loosely adapted from the classic story from Fantasia, and based in modern-day Manhattan, Nicolas Cage plays Balthazar Blake, a sorcerer who recruits and trains a young protege (Jay Baruchel) to help fight the forces of darkness. Celebrity illusionist Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell) joins forces with an evil sorcerer named Horvath (Alfred Molina), to "gain ultimate powers." The film, also features Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories) as Baruchel's love interest and Monica Bellucci (Passion of the Christ, The Matrix Reloaded) as Veronica, a sorceress and the long-lost love of Cage's character. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is set to hit theaters on July 16th 2010.