“My name is Klaatu Reeves and I have come to Earth to warn you of Hancock.” The first trailer for December’s big budget remake of 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still is now online after premiering in front of Will Smith’s ne’er-do-well superhero flick. Under an icy blue tint, the preview quickly evokes Close Encounters, The Abyss, Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, Contact and Langoliers before closing in on the modern green message, an aspect that Keanu Reeves has mentioned briefly in the press….

“The version I was just working on, instead of being man against man, it’s more about man against nature. My Klaatu says that if the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the earth survives. I’m a friend to the earth.”

The special effects by Weta Digital—the emphasis here is on a large alien orb and apocalyptic destruction—seem crisp and foreboding enough. Glimpses of a cast that includes Jennifer Connelly, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm (his first major movie role) and Kathy Bates, give the impression that director Scott Derrickson (Exorcism of Emily Rose) may have crafted a classier Day After Tomorrow. If so, that would slightly exceed most fanboys’ early expectations for the film. Alas, do you see Gort? Check out the comments.

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Watch the trailer in high resolution on filmweb.no.

Synopsis: Updating the 1951 sci-fi classic’s Cold War and religious themes, Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu, a mysterious man from another world who warns Earth’s humans that unless they change their gluttonous and harmful ways and pay more attention to the planet’s needs, aliens will swoop down and destroy them for good. :0

The Day the Earth Stood Still opens on December 12th.

Discuss: What do you think of the trailer to The Day the Earth Stood Still? Does it appear to be what you expected? Will Reeves make a Klaatu for the ages? Also, Gort fans, chime in.