You’d think that in this day and age that anyone making a movie based on a pre-existing property or franchise would understand that the number one rule is to stay as close as you can to the source material or risk fan outrage. Well, apparently Jason Blum and director Jon M. Chu (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Step Up 2 and 3) did not think that rule should apply to their Jem and the Holograms live-action movie, because the first trailer has arrived online and it looks absolutely nothing like the ’80s cartoon that inspired it. Alas, even the Jem movie is not immune to a serious internet backlash.

I think we all expected them to update the material to an extent, but it’s pretty clear that their target audience is not anyone who grew up with the original show. The movie looks like a very straightforward story of a young singer-songwriter being catapulted to fame (thanks to YouTube, of course) and it contains very few of the fantasy elements that we all remember. The words “Showtime, Synergy” are indeed uttered, but there is no computer that can generate holograms nor is there a rival band named The Misfits. Unless for some reason they just left that stuff out of the trailer? Jem and the Holograms hits theatres on Oct. 23rd; check out the first trailer after the jump and let us know what you think.