The first trailer for The Magic Faraway Tree starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy has been released. Based on Enid Blyton’s “The Faraway Tree” series, The Magic Faraway Tree follows a family moving to the British countryside to discover a magical tree that can take them to fantastical worlds filled with colorful, enchanted characters. The Magic Faraway Tree is directed by Ben Gregor with a screenplay by Simon Farnaby, who also wrote Paddington 2 and Wonka.
The Magic Faraway Tree trailer has been released via Entertainment Film Distributor, and you can check it out in all its wonder below. In addition to Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Foy (The Crown), the cast also includes Nonso Anozie (Sweet Tooth), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Jessica Gunning (Baby Raindeer), Jennifer Saunders (Shrek 2), and Rebecca Ferguson (Dune). The film’s child cast includes newcomers Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Billie Gadsdon, and Phoenix Laroche.
Will ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ Be the Next ‘Paddington’?
The teaser trailer’s enchanting score comes courtesy of Isabella Summers, best known as the keyboardist for the band Florence and the Machine. Summers is also set to pen an original song for the movie. With a great composer, a stacked cast, and a creative team known for bringing well-reviewed family entertainment to the big screen, The Magic Faraway Tree has a lot working in its favor.
Since the publication of The Enchanted Wood back in 1939, The Magic Faraway Tree series has been a beloved childhood classic. The first attempts at a feature film adaptation emerged in 2014, with director Sam Mendes. By 2017, Studio Canal had acquired the rights to the book series and attached Simon Farnaby to pen the script. When personnel from Studio Canal left to found Elysian Film Group, they took The Magic Faraway Tree with them. Director Ben Gregor and Simon Farnaby’s big switch for the film was to update it to the modern day and take the name of the second book in the series, The Magic Faraway Tree, for the feature film.
The Magic Faraway Tree has a release date set for Mar. 27, 2026, in the United Kingdom. No U.S. release date has been set, but if it were to be released on the same weekend, it would be alongside Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, the horror film They Will Kill You, and the comedy Fantasy Life. While The Magic Faraway Tree would be the only family film opening that weekend, it would face stiff competition the following week from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Like with the Paddington films, the movie could be released in North America months after its United Kingdom rollout, giving it room to make an impact.
