Watch Chloe Moretz try to survive an alien invasion in the trailer for The 5th Wave

By Rick Marshall September 2, 2015

Chloe Grace Moretz has had memorable roles in recent years as a foul-mouthed vigilante, an eternally young vampire, and a telekinetic teenager, and her next film casts the young actress as one of the few survivors of an alien invasion that has ravaged the world.

Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for The 5th Wave, which stars Moretz as a 16-year-old girl trying to save her younger brother amid an invasion of the world by a powerful extraterrestrial enemy.

The first trailer for the film details the escalating series of deadly attacks from the Earth’s alien invaders that drastically reduce the human population. First, the aliens cut off the supply of electricity, and then they flood the world’s major cities. The third “wave” involves an airborne disease that further eliminates human survivors, and the fourth attack features alien invaders inhabiting human hosts in order to infiltrate and destroy the remaining pockets of humanity.

Directed by J. Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) from a script by Oscar-nominated Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant, The 5th Wave is based on the 2013 novel of same name by Rick Yancey. Along with Moretz, the film stars Ron Livingston (Office Space), Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Alex Roe (Sniper: Legacy), Maika Monroe (The Guest), Liev Schreiber (Defiance), and in his feature film debut, Zackary Arthur.

The first book in a planned trilogy, Yancey’s The 5th Wave follows teenage protagonist Cassie and her family as they struggle to survive the onslaught and await the anticipated fifth wave of the aliens’ attack. The sequel, titled The Infinite Sea, was published in September 2014. The third and final installment of the franchise is expected to hit shelves in May 2016.

The 5th Wave is currently scheduled to hit theaters January 15, 2016.

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