With Divergent a still not-too-distant memory and Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 looming on the horizon this fall, we are getting another huge dose of YA dystopia this summer with The Giver, out in just under two weeks. Based on the book by Lowis Lowry, who most would agree is the “birth mother” of young adult sci-fi, the film has a cast that would make even the most jaded pop culture aficionado all flustered: Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes, Alexander Skarsgard and Taylor Swift.

While the trailer definitely has the required amounts of thrill and foreboding, our main concern for The Giver is simply this: the timing. Even though the book set the stage for later stories to come to the fore, like Divergent and HG, those movies have already come out, and many of the themes here (individuality versus mass culture, spirit versus politics, emotion versus the ‘machine’), may feel a little overused.

But did you check out that cast?? We are excited to see Katie Holmes out and about again, but the most important member to address from a YA perspective is Miss Taylor Swift. Playing the part of Rosemary, who never even physically appears in the book, Swift is already making waves even though she is barely visible for a second in the new trailer. We’re wondering just how featured her part will be, and how much it will change the filmic adaptation from the acclaimed source material.

While Taylor might be a huge add-on in the film, we already know of some glaring subtractions too – the controversial scene in which a young boy bathes an older woman, causing many schools to ban the book entirely – isn’t even in the movie. Lowry was the one to spoil this at Comic Con earlier this week, along with some very revealing reflections on the story’s ending (which we won’t reprint here!). And what’s with those spaceships??

At least they finally got the Pleasantville-like transition from black and white to color right in this latest trailer, which many felt was sadly omitted in the teaser. It just remains to be seen if the film as a whole breaks enough new ground to hold audiences’ attentions.  We are hoping so!