Yet another beloved children’s book is getting the Disney treatment: Judith Viorst’s 32-page Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day has been adapted into a feature-length comedy starring Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Coolidge, Megan Mullally, and Ed Oxenbould as Alexander.
The book was originally released in 1972, and its black-and-white crosshatch drawings complement the story about the crappiest day ever, from a kid’s point of view. Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, and it just gets worse from there: Nobody listens to him when he’s smushed in the backseat in carpool, the teacher doesn’t like his drawing of an invisible castle, and he has to eat lima beans for dinner.
Naturally, Disney has updated the story for the Internet age with references to hashtags and Photoshop, and the movie, which is scheduled to be released October 10, seems to feature mostly slapstick comedy and saccharine platitudes. Based on this trailer, the review headlines will probably write themselves.