‘Game Night’ Trailer Teases High Stakes Hijinks

After the success of Arrested Development, Jason Bateman remade himself as a comedic leading man and has carried that over into the movies. However, despite his breezy charisma in comedic roles, the movies that Bateman has headlined have been a mixed batch at best. This time Jason Bateman reunites with John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the screen writers one of his bigger movie hits, Horrible Bosses, who have since moved on to directing, for Game Night, an escalating comedy of errors co-starring Rachel McAdams. Now we have the latest trailer for the R-rated hijinks of Game Night.

The premise of Game Night features Max (Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) as a couple in love with competition that they participate in a weekly game night with their friends. One night, Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) asks to host the weekly game night and what Max’s sibling has prepared defies all normal sense of friendly competition.

I’ll admit to a fair amount of skepticism when it comes to Game Night. The previous directorial effort by Francis Daley and Goldstein, the Vacation remake/reboot or whatever they called it, was extremely underwhelming with scarce laughs throughout its labored attempt to revive the Griswold family. However, Francis Daley and Goldstein were one of many screenwriters to turn Spider-Man: Homecoming into such a delightful superhero romp. Warner Bros. seems to have confidence in what Francis Daley and Goldstein have delivered with Game Night as the duo has been tapped to direct the solo Flash movie, Flashpoint, due out in 2020.

Also alleviating the skepticism is the solid cast assembled for Game Night beyond the leading trio of Bateman, McAdams, and Chandler. Breaking Bad and Fargo‘s Jesse Plemmons appears, as does Ingrid Goes West standout Billy Magnussen, along with Sharon Horgan, Chelsea Peretti, Danny Huston, Michael C. Hall, Lamone Morris, and Kylie Bunbury.

We’ll see who comes out a winner when John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Game Night from a script credited to Mark Perez lands in theaters on February 23, 2018.

The official synopsis for Game Night:

Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks, arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents.  So, when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game…right?  But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and win, they begin to discover that neither this “game”—nor Brooks—are what they seem to be.

Over the course of one chaotic night, the friends find themselves increasingly in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn.  With no rules, no points, and no idea who all the players are, this could turn out to be the most fun they’ve ever had…or, it’s game over.