‘Jem and the Holograms’ News: ‘80s Cartoon Gets Adapted as a Film Starring Aubrey Peeples
"Jem and the Holograms," the cartoon filled with glitter and glam that aired 1985-1988, is now getting a big-screen adaptation, according to USA Today.
The popular cartoon and Hasbro doll line was a very prominent pop-fiction icon in the '80s for young girls and pre-teens. But now the icon has been given a live-action film that stars "Nashville's" Aubrey Peeples.
Jon M. Chu, who directed another pop-fiction cartoon/action figure series from the '80s with "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," will helm this project as well.
"It's actually about a group of young people who are going to be inundated with this idea of fame and fortune and products and stuff, and within all that, how do you stay true to who you really are?" Chu told USA Today. "That's the real soul of the movie."
Peeples will portray coming-of-age rocker girl Jerrica Benton, whose singing videos become an Internet viral sensation. She is joined in the movie by '80s Brat Packer Molly Ringwald, who plays the charismatic aunt Bailey. Ringwald's character is who cares for Jerrica and her sister, as well as two adopted siblings.
The three girls make up the rest of Jerrica's band: the Holograms.
She eventually gets discovered and initially resists initially, but she gives in to take care of her adoptive family and soon transforms into Jem.
"We see the transformation as she gets brought into it, getting seduced by it, and at the same time trying to find her real self in between those two identities," Chu said.
The conflict in the movie delves mostly around that premise, separating the two identities in today's information age.
"How can you even have a secret identity with all this social media? But then it dawned on us: Wait, everybody has a secret identity. The idea of 'Who are you really?' is more relevant today than ever," Chu said. "That's what inspired me to say, 'Let's roll the dice and try to make this movie.'"
Check out BuzzFeed to see an exclusive trailer for the movie, which is set for release Oct. 23.
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