Predictions: The Highest Grossing Movies of 2014

January’s been a fairly rough month in the box office. The big budget action fests have ranged from a little disappointing (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, $75 million) to really awful (The Legend of Hercules, $18 million, and I Frankenstein, $25 million – both from $60 million budgets). The studios behind The Nut Job ($40 million for $40 million) and Devil’s Due ($18 million for $7 million) will be disappointed and the only huge success were buddy cop movie Ride Along, $75 million from $25 million, and the franchising Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, which cost just $5 million and took $82 million. Nothing yet has reached the blockbuster status of $100 million and so we may have to wait until the summer for the main, box office smashing events. Here’s what I think will be the biggest movie moneymakers this year.

1. The Hobbit: There and Back Again – Dir: Peter Jackson – Grossing: $1.3 billion
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction – Michael Bay – $1.1 billion
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $900 million
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – $850 million
5. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – $800 million
6. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – $750 million
7. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – $700 million
8. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois – $650 million
9. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – $600 million
10. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – $575 million
11. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – $500 million
12. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – $450 million
13. RoboCop – Jose Padhila – $400 million
14. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – $350 million
15. A Million Ways to Die in the West – Seth MacFarlane – $300 million

The hype surrounding Jackson’s sixth and final Middle-Earth adventure is just too immense for the ever disappointing Transformers anthology. The Hunger Games’ popularity only seems to rise and rise and so Part 3 should bring huge box office spills. The first while the star studding of Days of Future Past, Interstellar, Cap 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy should lead them to success. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 however won’t significantly increase from the first film’s takings; the interest in the franchise really doesn’t seem that great. Other releases that may just miss out on the top 15 include Edge of Tomorrow, Divergent, Muppets Most Wanted, Fury and Rio 2.

Guy Ritchie may revive King Arthur, JJ Abrams talks 3D & secrecy in Star Wars and Cap America 3 in the works

The success of bringing Celtic legend King Arthur has varied dramatically. They’ve ranged fro, classics such as Excalibur, The Sword in the Stone and, erm, Monty Python and the Holy Grail to flops like King Arthur and First Knight. Since the disappointment of the 2004 instalment, Warner Bros has been trying to get a new Arthur project into cinemas. Two ideas were considered, one conception led by Guy Ritchie (Rock ‘n’ Rolla, Sherlock Holmes) and the other by the more comedically seasoned David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, Fred Claus) who pitched Arthur and Lancelot. Dobkin was hired and got as far as hiring Kit Harrington and Joel Kinnaman for the leads and Gary Oldman was in negotiations to play Merlin before the project fell through, due to budget disagreements, and was shelved.

Now, Ritchie is in line to take up the mantle as Arthur’s director. The hope is that this’ll spawn into a franchise and saga of Arthurian goodness, according the reliable Deadline. I’d presume the approach will be to go for a more traditional fantasy tale with magic, witches, Merlin and all as previous attempts to ground and realise the story have flopped. Ritchie himself is still hard at work on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., starring Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill so should he accept the Arthur role that’d confirm his departure from the beloved production of sequel Sherlock Holmes 3, starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.

Above is JJ Abrams, creator of Lost, Alias and Felicity and director of Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8 and Mission: Impossible 3 as well as writer/director of the upcoming sequel Star Wars: Episode VII. He recently talked, to The Daily Telegaph, about some of the major issues found in his previous works that he hopes to resolve with his work on Star Wars, namely 3D and secrecy.

Abrams professes he’s “not a 3D fanatic” but “understood why it was important to the studio” to release Into Darkness in the format. His films have been known to take some not-the-norm promotion techniques but says that Episode VII’s will be more conventional. “Star Wars is in every way a different animal,” he said. “It’s always been a more open, fan-engaged universe than I’ve been used to, so I’m sure there’ll be some sort of compromise.” Having seen Into Darkness or not, you’ve probably picked up that the villainous John Harrison’s real identity was leaked online for all to see several months before the film’s release and that’s not the only high-profile case, see Naomie Harris’ Eve, not, Moneypenny. “We were trying to preserve the unexpected for the audience”, he explained, “but it came across as if we were trying to be too clever”. “It feels to me like there’s a purity in not knowing every little thing.”

The mega-franchises butting heads in 2015 will be Marvel, who launch Avengers 2 and Ant-Man, and Star Wars, who release the aforementioned Episode VII. Additionally, this year Disney’s Marvel finds only its main competition from Sony’s Marvel (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Fox’s Marvel (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Hunger Games 3, Hobbit 3, Transformers 4 and Godzilla. Disney Marvel are to release the double bill of Captain America 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy; today, we focus on the former. Stars, directors and producers alike are appropriately confident about Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Samuel L Jackson, Frank Grillo, Toby Jones, Hayley Attwell, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan and Emily VanCamp.

Variety now reports that this goes to the extent of a third Cap film entering development. Winter Soldier director Joe and Anthony Russo are in talks to call the shots again, meaning they’ll join Jon Favreau and Joss Whedon as the only directors that Marvel have called back for a second sitting. Marvel have confirmed that two new project will arrive in 2016 and 2017, the former confirmed to be Doctor Strange while the latter is rumoured to be Black Panther, with sequels accompanying them. Will Cap 3 and Thor 3 be those sequels? And, if so, will Cap 3 come around as early as 2014? Follow Tuorhoth Movies for each development as it happens to find out more.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th

Guardians of the Galaxy – August 1st

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Ant-Man – July 17th 2015

Doctor Strange – 2016

Captain America 3 – 2016?

Thor 3 – 2017?

Black Panther – 2017?

King Arthur – 2017?

Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – 2015

Sherlock Holmes 3 – 2017?

New pics from X-Men: DOFP, Exodus, Captain America 2, Gone Girl, Dawn of Planet of Apes and Spider-Man 2 plus Gal Gadot on Wonder Woman

We’re still unsure if Gal Gadot will play a major role in the yet untitled superhero showdown of Batman vs. Superman. The Israelian star of Fast and Furious has already been confirmed to be playing Wonder Woman but we’re not sure of how much screen time she’ll get with Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Joaquin Phoenix (Lex Luthor?) and Jason Momoa (Hawkman?) already beefing up the cast. After initial controversy over the casting due to Gadot not having Wonder Woman’s exaggerated size and posture, she said this: “I represent the Wonder Woman of the new world,” she told the Israeli press, “If I really go ‘by the book’, it’d be problematic.”

Batman vs. Superman’s Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot

Finally, we’ve got a huge compilation behind the scenes pics and fresh new stills courtesy of Empire’s new 2014 preview extravaganza. Gone Girl. Directed by David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and adapted from the Gillian Flynn novel, the crime thriller has built an impressive cast including Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris and Rosamund Pike.

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

We move swiftly on to Jamie Foxx as the new Spider-Man villain Electro in Marc Webb’s Marvel sci-fi superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Andrew Garfield, Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Sally Field and Dane DeHaan.

Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Another Marvel project but on Disney’s side of things now. It’s Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the second character to be referenced in the title, played by Sebastian Stan, is today’s focus. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Emily Van Camp, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Hayley Attwell and Frank Grillo also star.

Sebastian Stan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Legendary British director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Prometheus, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangsters, Black Hawk Down) puts his spin on the Bible with epic Exodus. Starring Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Indira Varma, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro and Ben Kingsley. The film seems to be going for huge practical sets as oppose the the more modern, generic use of CG, perhaps in homage to Ben-Hur and Cleopatra.

Christian Bale in Exodus.

Andy Serkis leads the way for the cast of dark fantasy sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as he strides round a picturesque lake in his trademark mo-cap suit, donned by Serkis previously in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves directs additional cast members such as Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Judy Greer.

Andy Serkis on set of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

We finish with a behind the scenes peaks at X-Men: Days of Future Past, with director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) hanging out with the 70s mutants, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman, on a 70s car in front of a suspiciously modern greenscreen.

Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Bryan Singer, Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Hoult on set for X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

Gone Girl – October 3rd 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th 2014

Exodus – December 12th 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 17th 2014

X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 22nd 2014

X-Men’s The Bent Bullet plus Stan Lee talks new movie project and Crossbones’ future in Marvel

You could easily criticize me for an overload of Marvel news but they just have so much going on at the moment, namely the confirmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Fantastic Four, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Force The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 4 and Big Hero 6, TV’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and the in production Captain America 3, Thor 3, Deadpool, Wolverine 3, Black Panther, The Inhumans and The Avengers 3.

The first bit of news comes from a second viral site for 2014’s most anticipated superhero project, X-Men: Days of Future Past. Before there was Trask Industries but now Fox have launched a conspiracy site called The Bent Bullet. Cast your mind to well over a year ago, Days of Future Past wasn’t yet the title of this film. First Class’ director Matthew Vaughn was set to call the shots and stated that he was considering “The Magic Bullet” idea that in November 1963, fifty years ago just now, when Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John Kennedy in Dallas the bullet hit but didn’t kill JFK and the young metal controlling mutant Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr (to be played by Michael Fassbender) manipulated the bullet to come back a second time to finish the president off.

As soon as Bryan Singer and Days of Future Past was announced in August 2012, we thought that idea was gone with the new story clearly about time travel. The Bent Bullet has proved us wrong as it’s filled the whole of Lensherr’s story in ’63. We can now presume that he goes on a wild rampage after crippling his closest friend, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), or, as he said, is framed, most likely by the mutant hating industrialist Bolivar Trask, who designed his cell because he wants him locked up for good after in disaster at Cuba in 1962, see 2011’s X-Men: First Class.

Ten years later in the film’s primary setting, 1970s Magneto (still Fassbender) escapes from his cell with the assistance of 1970s Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). However, Magneto isn’t best pleased that it’s took this long. Upon Magneto’s escape, Beast (Nicholas Hoult) confronts and attacks the master of magnetism. This is our own speculation but it’s likely that that’s what’s going to happen. Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Shawn Ashmore, Daniel Cudmore, Lucas Till and Ellen Page reprise their roles from previous X-Men films while Peter Dinklage, Evan Peters, Booboo Stewart, Omar Sy, Josh Helman, Adan Canto and Fan Bingbing take on new roles such as Quicksilver, Blink and Bishop.

Stan Lee truly is the grandfather of Marvel Comics, TV and film. With regular producing and writing credits, plus his priceless cameos, on the new pictures, he’s still a part of Disney, Sony and Fox’s continuation of his epic franchises from the 1950s and 60s. He’s teaming up with The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man and X-Men producer Avi Arad for a new top secret project that’s being kept within the closed borders of Sony so it could be a Spider-Man tie in, such as Venom, that we mentioned last week.

Arad, Sony’s Israeli secret hero, told the Hollywood Reporter that Stan Lee: “At the ripe old age of 90, can still put together magic. He’s as sharp as a Japanese cooking knife. His mind is as young as it used to be.” That hints at a brand new, original idea that Lee’s brought together in his imaginative cooking pot but, for now, I’m sticking with Venom. Arad added that the next step would be to find a writer.

Meanwhile, The Grey and Warrior star Frank Grillo is counting down the days until Marvel sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier, where his performance as Brock Rumlow/Crossbones should make him go stellar. He describes to Crave Online “It’s an origin film. You meet people who are going to be around for a while, so they introduce the characters. It’s almost like it’s a series. It’s fun. I can’t say very much about it because Marvel’s very strict about what you’re allowed to say. The movie, we’ve seen bits of it, and it is spectacular.” We think he could be referring to his future with new characters like Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) or Agent 13 (Emily Van Camp). Cap 2 also stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson and Sebastian Stan and is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo.

X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 22nd 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th

Venom/untitled Stan Lee and Avi Arad project – 2016?