海角大神

You thought it couldn鈥檛 be done?

The extended movie trailer for 鈥淐loud Atlas鈥� was leaked online 鈥� and though it may yet be too soon to tell 鈥� word is, the motion picture adaptation of the intense, centuries-spanning novel is extraordinarily stunning.

IndieWire called it 鈥渟taggeringly ambitious鈥� and 鈥渧isually impressive.鈥�

The Wall Street Journal noted that the nearly 6-minute trailer, which debuted on Apple鈥檚 website Thursday, was such a hit it bumped 鈥淐loud Atlas鈥� from 2,509 on Amazon鈥檚 best seller list to No. 7 in record time. Random House has ordered 25,000 new paperbacks to meet the renewed interest. Not so unusual for a movie version of a book to stimulate fresh interest in an old title. But a mere trailer? Now that鈥檚 impressive.

As is the trailer.

Lana and Andy Wachowski 鈥� the sibling duo behind 鈥淭he Matrix鈥� 鈥� and Tom Tykwer are behind the 鈥渁nd-you-thought-it-couldn鈥檛-be-done-transformation鈥� of David Mitchell鈥檚 acclaimed bestseller. The film, which weighs in at 164 minutes, stars an eclectic cast including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Bae Doona, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, James D鈥橝rcy, and Hugo Weaving.

For those of you who aren鈥檛 familiar with the book and why this trailer is so impressive, consider this: 鈥淸A]uthor David Mitchell鈥檚 dense, centuries-spanning novel ... tells six separate but interlocking stories starting in the South Pacific in the 1800s and progressing to a dystopian future with genetic clones,鈥� writes the Los Angeles Times. Among the 鈥渄isparate worlds that the directors have created,鈥澛爓rites IndieWire are 鈥渁 Pacific sea expedition in the 19th century, Belgium in the 1930s, San Francisco in the 1970s, London in the present day, Korea in a dystopian future, and Hawaii at the end of time.鈥�

The 2004 novel tells the mind-bending stories of six narrators across time and space whose stories and histories are connected and whose actions impact one another鈥檚 destinies. The novel won the British Book Award鈥檚 Literary Fiction Award and was shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize. 聽

鈥淎s big fans of the book, we've wondered for some time if the filmmakers would be able to come anywhere close to its material, but we have to confess that this is pretty stunning, for the most part,鈥� writes IndieWire. 鈥淭he production values look incredibly high, the scope and ambition and variety is like nothing else we've seen in a long time, and the cast, aided by some excellent make-up, look to be rising to the occasion.鈥�

If the trailer generates this much interest, we鈥檙e eager to see the impact of the actual film 鈥� on audiences and of course, in the resurgence of interest in the original novel.

鈥淭he experts all said it was too complicated,鈥� Lana Wachowski told the LA Times.

So far, it seems the adaptation has exceeded all expectations.

聽鈥淐loud Atlas鈥� will makes is world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and hit US theaters Oct. 26.