From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel by Ransom Riggs, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” When Jake (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jake learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, he realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out what is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is rich with fantastical and immersive imagery, memorable characters, epic battles, and unique time travel manipulations all brought to life by Tim Burton, in the grand style of his acclaimed films “Edward Scissorhands,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Most significantly, it is about embracing the original and peculiar in us all.
What makes the young Peculiars different is also what makes them able, strong and special. Eva Green takes on the titular role of Miss Peregrine, her home provides a safe haven from the outside world, which cannot comprehend or deal with the Peculiars’ special abilities. It’s also a refuge from their powerful enemies.
Each child has a unique peculiarity, including levitation, fire-manipulation and super-strength. The Peculiars’ capabilities are not limitless, and these young people are bound by most of the things we non-Peculiars are. “They just discover some creative uses for their abilities in certain situations,” says executive producer Derek Frey.
Choreographer Francesca Jaynes, whose credits include Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Dark Shadows” and “Alice in Wonderland,” worked with the young actors, focusing on the movements specific to each character’s special ability. But Jaynes notes that, “What was most important to Tim was conveying the humanity of the children. These peculiarities are not superpowers. It’s part of who they are.”
Burton filmed the action-packed conclusion on the Blackpool pier and in the Victorian circus at Blackpool Tower. Stunt coordinator Rowley Irlam (“Game of Thrones”) worked with the young actors portraying the Peculiars and all were pleased to take part in a thrilling escape sequence, where they must climb out of a window on the top floor of the Home and slide down its roof, amidst a torrential downpour. “All the children did their own stunts and were happy as anything to do it,” says Frey.
“Fans are going to get a no-holds-barred ‘Miss Peregrine’ experience,” adds Derek Frey. “It’s a full rendering of that story.” Perhaps no one is more pleased with that rendering than its original architect. “As someone who grew up loving Tim’s movies, it was so exciting to me that he was interested in my book,” says Riggs. “I said to myself, ‘Okay, well, this is genius. Tim is perfect for the material, and he’s going to make it all his own. I love where he went with the film.”
The impressive cast of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris O’ Dowd, Allison Janney, Judi Dench, Terence Stamp, Ella Purnell, Rupert Everett, Finlay MacMillan, Lauren McCrostie, Raffiella Chapman, Hayden Keeler-Stone, Georgia Pemberton, Milo Parker, Pixie Davis, Cameron King, Joseph and Thomas Odwell and Louis Davison.
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” will open September 28 in cinemas (2D and 3D) from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.