Rise starred James Frano, Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, John Lithgow and David Oyelowo Dawn reinvented the cast with Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit McPhee, Judy Greer and Jason Clarke. War of the Planet of the Apes has now signed on Woody Harrlelson as its lead villain.
The reboot trilogy’s cast has been bolstered by the signing two time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men, The Hunger Games, Zombieland, Cheers, Seven Psychopaths, True Detective) as a new human villain, currently being referred to as Colonel. This suggests that he will play the leader of the military forces that arrive at the end of Dawn. The other cast information we currently know is that Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings) will reprise his role as franchise figurehead Caesar. Its unclear if there will be a third new cast or Dawn’s main characters will return. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) directs.
When Warner Bros and Disney both announced rivalling adaptations of The Jungle Book, it was the WB/Andy Serkis version that had far more hype. However, Disney’s version will be gaining some new fans from the surprisingly impressive first trailer. However much of the voice work isn’t shown alongside the on screen animals which makes us worry that the two will clash in the film.
Jon Favreau (Iron Man) directs while the cast includes Scarlett Johansson (Avengers Assemble, Lost in Translation), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, Prometheus), Bill Murray (Ghost Busters, Moonrise Kingdom), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, The Force Awakens), Neel Sethi (Diwali), Giancarlo Esposito (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Usual Suspects), Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island, Gandhi) and Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter).
There’s a good seven or so months until the Oscars really kick off but even now we might be able to make a few early predictions for some of the big hitters. This list will be rapidly changing over the coming months depending on the reception of some of these films. Gus Van Sant/Matthew MacConaughey drama The Sea of Trees seemed like a viable candidate until its Cannes flop. In some cases, we’re basing the predictions off their critical reception, festival buzz and hype and in other cases the popularity of a filmmaker involved. We’re ranking the selections in order of likelihood.
Best Picture:
40) The Good Dinosaur
Director: Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy) Starring: Anna Paquin (True Blood), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club), Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading) Premise: An epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend. Odds: Pixar’s second effort of the year may get overshadowed by their first but the studio’s good form might transfer into this look at an alternate history.
39) Creed
Director: Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) Starring: Michael B Jordan (Chronicle), Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), Sylvester Stallone (First Blood) Premise: The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. Odds: The Rocky franchise had seriously drifted after the Best Picture winning original but, by shifting Stallone into and supporting role and bringing new hero Adonis Creed to the foreground, we might have a contender.
38) Secret in Their Eyes
Director: Billy Ray (Breach) Starring: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockivich), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Nicole Kidman (The Hours) Premise: A tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered. Odds: The Argentinian adaptation of the same book won an Oscar for Foreign Language in 2009 but this might turn ought to be another unpopular remake.
37) By the Sea
Director: Angelina Jolie (Unbroken) Starring: Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melanie Laurent (Beginners) Premise: Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner. Odds: Jolie hasn’t yet cemented her position as an accomplished director but last year’s Unbroken got three Oscar nods meaning that By the Sea might follow suit.
36) Trumbo
Director: Jay Roach (Meet the Parents) Starring: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Helen Mirren (The Queen), John Goodman (Argo) Premise: The successful career of Hollywood screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, comes to an end when he is blacklisted in the 1940s for being a Communist. Odds: The Oscars have a track record of stories about Hollywood and redemption and Bryan Cranston should shine in the role but communist sympathies might not sit too well with the Academy.
35) Spectre
Director: Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) Starring: Daniel Craig (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) Premise: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre. Odds: Prior to 2012’s Skyfall, Bond hadn’t had a Oscar win in nearly 50 years. If Spectre is an improvement, than the series may be on the way to a first ever Best Picture nomination.
34) Legend
Director: Brian Helgeland (42) Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind) Premise: The film tells the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organised crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s. Odds: The main Oscar buzz about the film surrounds Tom Hardy’s performance(s) but the crime biopic might be a dark horse in the contest.
33) The Martian
Director: Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) Starring: Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Premise: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Odds: After back to back success with Gladiator and Black Hawk Down followed by the snubbing of American Gangster, acclaimed director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic The Martian may have the goods to put him back on top.
32) Beasts of No Nation
Director: Cary Fukanga (True Detective) Starring: Abraham Attah (Out of the Village), Ama K Abebrese (The Cursed Ones), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) Premise: A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country. Odds: The Academy may take a big step by nominating a Netflix original production for the first time
31) Everest
Director: Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband) Starring: Jake Gyllenhaald (Nightcrawler), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) Premise: A climbing expedition on Mt. Everest is devastated by a severe snow storm. Odds: A traditional disaster flick will hopefully be elevated by the fantastic ensemble.
30) Concussion
Director: Peter Landesman (Parkland) Starring: Will Smith (Ali), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Alec Baldwin (The Hunt For Red October) Premise: The story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in professional football players. Odds: It’s been years since Smith’s last major critical success but the more serious tone surrounding this true life thriller may lead it Oscar bound.
29) The Walk
Director: Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away) Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper), Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island), Charlotte Le Bon (Mood Indigo) Premise: The story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Odds: The fact that the same story was turned into an Oscar winning documentary (Man on Wire) several years ago proves that the premise is more Academy friendly than blockbuster cool but the fact that the story has been visited successfully before may also hinder it.
28) Freeheld
Director: Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) Starring: Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), Ellen Page (Juno) Premise: New Jersey police lieutenant, Laurel Hester, and her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, both battle to secure Hester’s pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Odds: Moore is on fine form after her win for Still Alice but there hasn’t yet been a remarkable amount of Oscar buzz surrounding it.
27) 45 Years
Director: Andrew Haigh (Weekend) Starring: Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia), Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago), Geraldine James (Gandhi) Premise: In the week leading up to their 45th wedding anniversary, a couple receive an unexpected letter which contains potentially life changing news. Odds: The low key British drama might prove to be a contender but given the recent snubbing of Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, the Academy may have turned away from that genre the larger scale Brit flicks such as The Imitation Game
26) The Danish Girl
Director: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) Starring: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair), Ben Whishaw (Skyfall) Premise: The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer. Odds: The Danish Girl has all the makings of a Best Picture winner – lavish period setting, Oscar friendly cast and director – but it’ll have to overcome its so far mixed-negative reception.
25) Straight Outta Compton
Director: F Gary Gray (Friday) Starring: Jason Mitchell (Contraband), Corey Hawkins (Non-Stop), Paul Giamatti (Sideways) Premise: The group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood. Odds: Sharing its name with the rap sensation, this unlikely candidate surprised critics and was a smash hit with audiences but that won’t necessarily translate into Oscar success for the musical biopic.
24) Macbeth
Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Marion Cotillard (Inception), Paddy Considine (Dead Man’s Shoes) Premise: Macbeth, a duke of Scotland, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself. Odds: Kurzel might not be experienced with this scale of filmmaking but injecting a flavour of war epic to Shakespeare’s classic should shake things up, not to mention the roles Fassbender and Cotillard were born to play.
23) The Program
Director: Stephen Frears (The Queen) Starring: Chris O’Dowd (Calvary), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) Premise: An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong’s performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong. Odds: The events depicted might be considered too recent to have a major effect on voters and O’Dowd (while talented) hasn’t yet reached Oscar appeal but Frears’ impressive back catalogue should accelerate hype.
22) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Director: Alfonso Gomez Rejon (The Town that Dreaded Sundown) Starring: Thomas Mann (Project X), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel), Nick Offerman (The Kings of Summer) Premise: High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer. Odds: The Fault in Our Stars for the Kings of Summer audience. This charming romance with undoubtedly win the hearts of fans and critics but it might be too low key for the Academy.
21) Snowden
Director: Oliver Stone (JFK) Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt (Inception), Nicolas Cage (Face/Off), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) Premise: CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press. Odds: Snowden’s story was told recently in the Oscar winning documentary Citizenfour meaning the source material has awards-friendly buzz but all of Oliver Stone’s recent work (Alexander, Money Never Sleeps, Savages) has been a let down. However, anti-American undertones didn’t do Zero Dark Thirty any harm.
20) Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Director: JJ Abrams (Stark Trek Into Darkness) Starring: John Boyega (Attack the Block), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) Premise: New heroes must fight the rising threat of the New Order. Odds: While the reboot of a franchise that hasn’t been good since 1983 may make the Oscars treat The Force Awakens as Bantha fodder, it seems to possess the game changing level of effects that brought Avatar to success and made the original Star Wars a Best Picture nominee.
19) Hail Caesar
Directors: Joel and Ethan Cohen (The Big Lebowski) Starring: Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), George Clooney (Gravity), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) Premise: A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s stars in line. Odds: With four Oscar wins, the Coens are probably the most acclaimed screenwriters of our time but Inside Llewyn Davis’ snubbing might mean trouble for the pair’s more quirky efforts.
18) Silence
Director: Martin Scorsese (The Aviator) Starring: Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Tadanobu Asano (Thor). Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List) Premise: In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity. Odds: Silence seems Oscar bound but production delays and rumours that it’ll debut in Cannes 2016 suggest that the film might not be in competition until the 2017 Oscars.
17) The End of the Tour
Director: James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now) Starring: Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Anna Chlumsky (In the Loop), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) Premise: A magazine reporter recounts his travels and conversations with author David Foster Wallace during a promotional book tour. Odds: The new Almost Famous? Segel and Eisenberg’s pairing will undoubtedly pick up a cult following but might be a bit abrasive for the Oscar crowd.
16) In the Heart of the Sea
Director: Ron Howard (Apollo 13) Starring: Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) Premise: Based on the 1820 event, a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home. Odds: Ron Howard has experienced mass success with the disaster thriller genre but the merciless snub of his brilliant racing drama Rush hints at an anti-Howard agenda.
15) Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller (The Road Warrior) Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Charlize Theron (Monster), Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) Premise: In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. Odds: This bold action sequel received rave reviews but the fact that its plot can be sketched out on a napkin might put off some of the more traditional Academy voters.
14) Joy
Director: David O. Russell (American Hustle) Starring: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Robert De Niro (Casino) Premise: The story of a family across four generations and the woman who rises to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty. Odds: Russell has a surprising three consecutive Best Picture nominees but the flop of his abandoned rom-com Accidental Love earlier this years prevents Joy from being his fourth.
13) Brooklyn
Director: John Crowley (Is Anybody There) Starring: Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Julie Walters (Billy Elliot) Premise: In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Ellis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries. Odds: This star studded effort could be a major contender so long as it avoids the pitfalls of a procedural romantic drama (IE Anna Karenina).
12) The Lobster
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth) Starring: Colin Farrell (In Bruges), John C Reilly (Chicago), Rachel Weisz (Enemy at the Gates) Premise: In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods. Odds: Merging comedy, romance and sci-fi with a bonkers concept from a Greek director making his English language debut. The Gilliam-esque level of weirdness will attract a lot of attention but may also backfire.
11) Youth
Director: Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) Starring: Michael Caine (The Dark Knight), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) Premise: Fred and Mick, two old friends, are on vacation in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps. While Mick scrambles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no intention of resuming his musical career. But someone wants at all costs to hear him conduct again. Odds: Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty picked up a triple with Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globes in the Foreign Language category so Youth should continue form but Sorrentino’s only other English language feature, This Must Be the Place, was one of his weakest.
10) Suffragette
Director: Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) Starring: Carey Mulligan (Drive), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd) Premise: The foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal state. Odds: The all-female writing directing team may face the snubs that Ava DuVernay suffered with Selma last year but the feminist story may tie into the Academy’s own changing times.
9) Black Mass
Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) Starring: Johnny Depp (Public Enemies), Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) Premise: The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. Odds: A dark and intense modern gangster thriller akin to The Departed and Donnie Brasco. Hopefully, Pirates star Johnny Depp will prove his worth for the first time in years. The massively positive early response is greatly promising.
8) Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) Starring: Mia Wasikowska (Stoker), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Premise: In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers. Odds: A lavish Gothic mood will elevate Crimson Peak from repetitive formulaic horror (The Conjuring, Insidious, Sinister, Annabelle) or even hits like the Carpenter-esque It Follows and indie smash The Babadook. Del Toro might exceed Pan’s Labyrinth’s three Oscar wins while busting the myth that horrors are Oscar immune (see Jaws, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Aliens, The Silence of the Lambs).
7) The Hateful Eight
Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction) Starring: Samuel L Jackson (Jurassic Park), Kurt Russell (The Thing), Bruce Dern (Nebraska) Premise: In post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunters try to find shelter during a blizzard but get involved in a plot of betrayal and deception. Will they survive? Odds: Tarantino’s three Best Picture nominations may well be added to with this Western thriller. It’d be unlikely for this not to be an seventh consecutive hit for the filmmaker.
6) Carol
Director: Todd Haynes (I’m Not There) Starring: Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Kyle Chandler (Super 8) Premise: Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman. Odds: Carol has been the bookies’ favourite from the start but more recently more praise has gone towards its stars than the film itself.
5) Sicario
Director: Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) Starring: Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow), Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) Premise: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. Odds: American Sniper, Argo, Captain Phillips, District 9, Gravity, The Hurt Locker, Inception and Zero Dark Thirty have redefined the Oscar’s favour for the action thriller genre.
4) Inside Out
Directors: Pete Docter (Up), Ronaldo Del Carmen Starring: Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Bill Hader (Trainwreck), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) Premise: After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school. Odds: The animation has gained the best reception of any of Pixar’s work since 2010’s Toy Story 3 but it has been five years since the studio has had a major nomination besides Animated Feature.
3) Bridge of Spies
Director: Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List) Starring: Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Amy Ryan (Birdman), Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall) Premise: An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union. Odds: Spielberg’s career has had nine Best Picture films (including Jaws, The Colour Purple, Saving Private Ryan, War Horse and Lincoln) and 118 Oscar nods are most likely to be added to but the acclaimed director isn’t immune to snubs (Catch Me if You Can, Jurassic Park). Also, Hanks hasn’t had an Oscar nod since 2001’s Cast Away and even his career best in Captain Phillips didn’t sway the Academy.
2) The Revenant
Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio (Inception), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) Premise: The frontiersman, Hugh Glass, who in the 1820s set out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling. Odds: Considering the grueling shoot and huge budget, the civil-war era epic could be the new Dances With Wolves (multi-Oscar winner with Kevin Costner) or the new Heaven’s Gate (world renowned flop with Jeff Bridges). Either way, the footage is incredible.
1) Steve Jobs
Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Kate Winslet (Titanic) Premise: The true story of the life of visionary Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Odds: While it suffered major development issues – loss of cast members (Christian Bale, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Leonardo Di Caprio, Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise, Matthew MacConaughey, Charlize Theronl, Jessica Chastain, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman) and director David Fincher – we reckon Steve Jobs is your next Best Picture winner.
Here’s a quickfire of the directors and stars we reckon will make the cut.
Best Director:
Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies
Denis Villeneuve – Sicario
Danny Boyle – Steve Jobs
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant
George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
Oliver Stone – Snowden
Guillermo Del Toro – Crimson Peak
JJ Abrams – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Scott Cooper – Black Mass
F Gary Gray – Straight Outta Compton
Paolo Sorrentino – Youth
Ron Howard – In the Heart of the Sea
Sarah Gavron – Suffragette
David O. Russell – Joy
Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight
Best Actor:
Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs – Steve Jobs
Michael Caine – Fred Ballinger – Youth
Leonardo Di Caprio – Hugh Glass – The Revenant
Johnny Depp – Whitey Bulger – Black Mass
Tom Hanks – James Donovan – Bridge of Spies
Jason Segel – David Foster Wallace – The End of the Tour
Bryan Cranston – Dalton Trumbo – Trumbo
Eddie Redmayne – Lili Elbe – The Danish Girl
Ian McKellen – Sherlock Holmes – Mr Holmes
Jake Gyllenhaal – Billy Hope – Southpaw
Tom Hardy – Ronald/Reginald Kray – Legend
Joseph Gordon Levitt – Edward Snowden – Snowden
Colin Farrell – David – The Lobster
Tom Hardy – “Mad” Max Rockatansky – Mad Max: Fury Road
Tom Hiddleston – Hank Williams – I Saw the Light
Best Actress:
Rooney Mara – Therese Belivet – Carol
Marion Cotillard – Lady Macbeth – Macbeth
Alicia Vikander – Gerda Wegener – The Danish Girl
Emily Blunt – Kate Macer – Sicario
Jennifer Lawrence – Joy Mangano – Joy
Cate Blanchett – Carol Aird – Carol
Charlotte Rampling – Kate Mercer – 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan – Ellis Lacey – Brooklyn
Juliette Binoche – Maria Enders – Clouds of Sils Maria
Carey Mulligan – Maud – Suffragette
Mia Wasikowska – Edith Cushing – Crimson Peak
Charlize Theron – Imperator Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road
Julianne Moore – Laurel Hester – Freeheld
Angelina Jolie – Vanessa – By the Sea
Amy Schumer – Amy – Trainwreck
Best Supporting Actor:
Seth Rogen – Steve Wozniak – Steve Jobs
Harvey Keitel – Mick Boyle – Youth
Benedict Cumberbatch – Bill Bulger – Black Mass
Benicio Del Toro – Alejandro – Sicario
Mark Rylance – Rudolf Abel – Bridge of Spes
Jesse Eisenberg – David Lipsky – The End of the Tour
Robert De Niro – Rudy Mangano – Joy
Christoph Waltz – Hans Oberhauser – Spectre
Samuel L Jackson – Marquis Warren – The Hateful Eight
Tom Hardy – John Fitzgerald – The Revenant
Chris O’Dowd – David Walsh – The Program
Josh Brolin – Matt – Sicario
Tom Hiddelston – Thomas Sharpe – Crimson Peak
Will Poulter – Jim Bridger – The Revenant
Harrison Ford – Han Solo – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Supporting Actress:
Rachel Weisz – Lena Ballinger – Youth
Kate Winslet – Joanna Hoffman – Steve Jobs
Shailene Woodley – Lindsay Mills – Snowden
Amy Ryan – Mary Donovan – Bridge of Spies
Ellen Page – Stacie Andree – Freeheld
Jessica Chastain – Lucille Sharpe – Crimson Peak
Jane Fonda – Brenda Morel – Youth
Kristen Stewart – Valentine – Clouds of Sils Maria
Julie Walters – Mrs Kehoe – Brooklyn
Melissa Leo – Laura Poitras – Snowden
Rachel McAdams – Maureen Hope – Southpaw
Helen Mirren – Hedda Hooper – Trumbo
Anna Chlumsky – Sarah – The End of the Tour
Helena Bonham Carter – Edith New – Suffragette
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Daisy Domergue – The Hateful Eight
Best Original Screenplay:
Youth – Paolo Sorrentino
The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino
Inside Out – Pete Docter, Ronald Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
Bridge of Spies – Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen, Matt Charman
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
Joy – David O. Russell, Annie Mumulo
Sicario – Taylor Sheridan
Hail Caesar – Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen
Demolition – Bryan Sipe
The Good Dinosaur – Enrico Casarosa, Bob Peterson
Suffragette – Abi Morgan
Trainwreck – Amy Schumer
Southpaw – Kurt Sutter
Crimson Peak – Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins
Irrational Man – Woody Allen
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
Carol – Phyllis Nagy
The End of the Tour – Donald Marguiles
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – Jesse Andrews
The Revenant – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Mark L Smith
Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Silence – Jay Cocks
Snowden – Oliver Stone, Kieran Fitzgerald
Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
The Danish Girl – Lucina Coven
Spectre – John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade
Macbeth – Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso
Black Mass – Scott Cooper, Mark Mallouk
The Martian – Drew Goddard
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan
If you felt that Comic-Con didn’t lift the lid on Disney’s upcoming works enough than D23 is for you. The expo of all things Disney enlightened us on all of their properties from Star Wars to Pixar to Marvel and all of the studio’s very own animated and live action features. Sadly there’s been no word on the likes of in the works projects such as Wreck-It Ralph 2, Frozen 2 or proposed remakes of Dumbo and Pinocchio. Firstly…
Pixar!
After critical and commercial triumph of Inside Out, the studio is rolling out its slate of six upcoming movies. The Good Dinosaur will tell the story of an alternate reality where humans are the Earth’s secondary species and dinosaurs still rule. It comes from director Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy) and stars Anna Paquin (X-Men), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) and Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading). November 25th 2015
Thirteen years after Finding Nemo, Finding Dory will pick up with the characters of the previous instalment when Dory finds herself in a marine study institute. Newly announced cast members include Hayden Rolence (Whom I Fear), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) and Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) and Angus MacLane (Toy Story of Terror) direct the cast of Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), Albert Brooks (Drive), Diane Keaton (The Godfather), Eugene Levy (American Pie), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Dominic West (The Wire), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) and Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man). June 17th 2016
Toy Story 4 is also on the way and a teaser poster graced and it was revealed that it will focus on a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. John Lasseter (Toy Story 1-2) and Josh Cooley (George and AJ) direct while we expect Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Joan Cusack (Say Anything) and Tim Allen (Galaxy Quest) to star. June 16th 2017
Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3) has long been developing a film centred on the Mexican celebration of The Day of the Dead. It has finally been given a release date and a title, Coco. No casting announcements have yet been made. November 22nd 2017
Another sequel on the way is Cars 3. No plot details were offered but we do know that John Lasseter (Cars 1-2) will write and we’d expect Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers) and Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector) to reprise their roles as Lightning McQueen and Mater respectively. June 15th 2018
The sequel Pixar fans have actually asking for will finally come out, 15 years after they asked for it. Assuming that the studio don’t want two sequels in the same year, The Incredibles 2 will head for a 2019 release. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation) will direct while we’d expect Craig T Nelson (Poltergeist), Holly Hunter (The Piano) and Samuel L Jackson (Avengers Assemble) to star.
Next up…
Disney Animation!
Disney’s latest animation Zootopia will portray a metropolis populated by mammals. Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) were already set to star but the latest addition is pop star/actress Shakira. The directors are Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (behind the creative team of Big Hero 6). March 4th 2016
Next, the team behind Aladdin, Hercules and The Princess and the Frog arrived to unveil more from their latest work, Moana. Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five) and Alan Tudyk (Serenity) will star in the story of a plucky young woman who is assisted by a demi-god to reach a fabled island. November 23rd 2016
The newest announcement was Gigantic. Tangled‘s Nathan Greno will collaborate with Frozen’s songwriters, Robert and Kristen Lopez to bring the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to Spain in the age of exploration. March 9th 2018
Following that was…
Disney live action (aka Worlds, Galaxies and Universes)
True life disaster thriller The Finest Hours will depict the struggle for survival of a group of sailors in 1952. Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm) directs with a cast including Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella) and Eric Bana (Munich). January 29th 2016
The latest adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book was promoted by director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) as well as Oscar winning stars Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and newcomer Neel Sethi. The classic story of an orphan raised by the animals of the jungle also stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers Assemble), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim), Bill Murray (Ghostbusters), Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter). April 15th 2016
Alice Through the Looking Glass will build upon the established world built in the Lewis Carroll books and the Tim Burton’s 2010 billion dollar hit. James Bobin (The Muppets) directs a cast featuring Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech), Alan Rickman (Die Hard), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Andrew Scott (Pride), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Lindsay Duncan (About Time), Stephen Fry (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and Timothy Spall (Mr Turner). May 27th 2016
Next up was the family fantasy adventure Pete’s Dragon, about a young boy who seeks refuge from his family with a dragon. David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) directs while the film stars Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), Wes Bentley (Interstellar), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Robert Redford (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). August 12th 2016
Two films delivered no material as such but were teased or mentioned. Firstly, Queen of Katwe – a drama about a girl from Uganda who trains to become a world chess champion. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and David Oyelowo (Selma) will star with director Mira Nair (The Namesake). 2016
Also, Disney’s new iteration of Beauty and the Beast was present. The reboot (telling the story of a relationship between a monstrous prince and a young woman) is directed by Bill Condon (Mr Holmes) and stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Josh Gad (Frozen), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting), Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wonda), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks) and Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings). March 17th 2017
Finally, there was news from the fifth instalment of a legendary franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. This one will see Captain Jack in search of the trident of Poseidon. Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings) was announced to be returning as Will Turner for the first time since 2007. The duo of Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) direct an ensemble including Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands), Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Brendon Thwaites (Maleficent), David Wenham (300), Stephen Graham (This is England) and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men). July 17th 2017
Marvel
We won’t include Marvel’s full extensive line up but two of their instalments next year. Because of the studio’s infamous secrecy, none of the material shown has made it to the public. Captain America: Civil War showed off its trailer to the D23 audience. Anthony and Joe Russo (The Winter Soldier) direct with a cast including Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Anthony Mackie (The Adjustment Bureau), Scarlett Johansson (Lucy), Daniel Bruhl (Rush), Sebastian Stan (Black Swan), Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Tom Holland (The Impossible), William Hurt (Artificial Intelligence) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). April 29th 2016
Doctor Strange is another of Marvel’s latest. Scott Derickson (Sinister) directs the supernatural thriller of which the recent concept art many likened to Inception. Marvel head Kevin Feige (Iron Man trilogy) could neither confirm or deny the rumours of Rachel McAdams joining the film but we do know that Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave). November 4th 2016
Star Wars
Star Wars: The Force Awakens was heralded by this stunning poster from Drew Struzan – the legendary poster designer who craft iconic works for Back to the Future and Blade Runner. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) directs a cast including Harrison Ford (Blade Runner), Mark Hamill (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Carrie Fisher (When Harry Met Sally), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Toast of London), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Adam Driver (Frances Ha) and Max Von Sydow (Shutter Island). December 18th 2015
The first spin-off has had a full title announcement, cast reveals and first still. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has added to its ranks Alan Tudyk (Serenity), Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Wen Jiang (Devils on the Doorstep) and Mads Mikkelson (Casino Royale). Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) will direct with the cast of Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Ben Mendelsohn (Killing Them Softly), Diego Luna (Elysium), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock), Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland). December 16th 2017
There wasn’t any news on Star Wars: Episode VIII – directed by Looper’s Rian Johnson and coming out May 26th 2017 – or the Han Solo spin off – directed by 21 Jump Street’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and coming out May 25th 2018.
It was revealed that the third and final instalment of the new sequel trilogy (Star Wars: Episode IX) will be directed by Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) but the returning cast members are yet to be announced!
Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Ben Kingsley, Issac Andrews, Maria Valverde, John Turturro, Ben Mendelsohn, Sigourney Weaver
Off the back of the classics Alien and Blade Runner, Ridley Scott has cemented his place in the twenty first century with the hits Black Hawk Down, American Gangster and Prometheus. However, his 2013 crime thriller The Counsellor flopped dramatically. Exodus: Gods and Kings may be the film to revive the epic.
Born a Jew but raised amongst the kings of Egypt, Moses (Bale) is respected and befriended by the Prince Ramesses (Edgerton). Upon King Seti’s (Turturro) death Ramesses’ tyrannical reign begins and God recruits Moses to free his people and take them to their promised land.
What Scott applies in brilliant abundance an level of epic unachieved in his previous work. The direction is consistently grand, bold, stylish and thrilling. This effect reaches its peak in the brutality of the battles and the horrific element of Egypt’s plagues and has a technical scale to rival or even succeed Interstellar or The Lord of the Rings.
Still however stunning the filmmaking is, the film is never especially thoughtful: character development is at a standstill; the female roles are far under-attended. Even the spiritual elements are fairly broadly handled. The ever amazing Christian Bale’s performance tends to disappointingly devolve into generic Heston-esque bellows and grunts. The likes of Edgerton (Warrior), Paul (Breaking Bad), Kingsley (Gandhi) and Weaver (Alien) elevate this from the procedural action even if they never get the chance to actually flex their dramatic muscles.
Exodus is best when it is at its biggest and most brash but is a letdown in the smaller, more personal scenes. Still, Scott’s uncanny ability for the visually sublime and the large, if underused, ensemble combine for a spectacular and truly modern epic. As the monumental event it promised to be, it underachieves.
7/10
“Remember this. I am prepared to fight. For eternity.”
2015 is the new 2012 (The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit), which itself was the new 1999 (The Sixth Sense, The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Two Story 2). Its releases should not only be huge financial successes but promise to be delightful watches as well. Here’s what we reckon will be topping the year’s box office in twelve months time.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Director: Joss Whedon – $1.7 billion
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – JJ Abrams – $1.4 billion
Spectre – Sam Mendes – $1.2 billion
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $925 million
Furious 7 – James Wan – $875 million
Minions – Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin – $800 million
Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – $775 million
Inside Out – Pete Docter – $725 million
Mission: Impossible 5 – Christopher McQuarrie – $700 million
Ant-Man – Peyton Reed – $675 million
The Good Dinosaur – Peter Sohn – $625 million
Ted 2 – Seth MacFarlane – $600 million
Terminator Genisys – Alan Taylor – $575 million
The Fantastic Four – Josh Trank – $550 million
Tomorrowland – Brad Bird – $525 million
We reckon The Avengers sequel will edge Star Wars seeing as the former series’ commercial success is actually growing. Pixar’s double-billed return to original storytelling with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur should score them impressively but Minions will triumph on the animation front. The only other original work we expect to see doing well is sci-fi adventure Tomorrowland. The race in the new crop of reboots will be won by Jurassic World, beating off competition from Terminator and Fantastic Four. Close to gracing the Top 15 will be sequels to YA franchises (The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, Insurgent) and there might be an upset for Chris Columbus/Adam Sandler comedy Pixels and Joe Wright/Hugh Jackman fantasy adventure Pan. Should it finally get a major release, The Interview may well be a smash hit.
Now here are our top twenty to one most anticipated releases of the year.
20) The Fantastic Four
Director: Josh Trank Writers: Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, TS Nowlin Starring: Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, Michael B Jordan, Toby Kebbell Premise: For a very long time, next to nothing had been revealed about Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. Star Wars took a similar approach and that sent fans running wild with speculation but no such hype surrounded the FF, exposing a serious lack of interest. Still, Chronicle’s Trank is a promising hope and the the high-end castings of Teller (Whiplash), Bell (Bill Elliot), Mara (House of Cards), Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Jordan (Fruitvale Station) ought to liven things up. Release: August 6th
19) Everest
Director: Baltasar Kormakur Writers: William Nicholson, Mark Medoff, Justin Isbell, Lem Dobbs, Simon Beaufoy Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki, John Hawkes, Emily Watson Premise: An absolute first-rate cast from two teams who embark on an expedition to the peak of the world’s highest mountain, where they also face the world’s toughest terrain. The stills so far reveal some spectacular drama. Release: October 2nd
18) Mission: Impossible 5
Director: Christopher McQuarrie Writers: Drew Pearce, Will Staples Starring: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Ving Rhames Premise: It’s hard to get excited when all we have to go on is a few on-set snaps but we can still expect a high-end spectacle of action. Uniting Cruise and McQuarrie (star/writer of Edge of Tomorrow) is a solid move and the returning cast of Ghost Protocol (Pegg, Renner, Patton) hints at more franchise continuity than before. Release: December 26th
17) The Man From UNCLE
Director: Guy Ritchie Writers: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram, Jeff Kleeman, David Campbell Wilson Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris Premise: Bond and Hunt are both set in stone in their nationalities but spy reboot The Man From UNCLE pitches a teaming up of the American Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and the Russian Illya Kuryakin (Hammer). With Sherlock Holmes/Snatch director Guy Ritchie helming it ought to be a truly gripping thriller. Release: August 14th
16) Child 44
Director: Daniel Espinosa Writers: Richard Price Starring: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, Dev Patel, Joel Kinnaman, Charles Dance Premise: In Stalin-era Soviet Union, a detective investigates a series of murder, the complication is that the state believes crime doesn’t exist. The cast alone is enough of a reason to get interested and Daniel Espinosa proved his action credentials in Safe House. Release: April 17th
15) Minions
Director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin Writer: Brian Lynch Starring: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton Premise: There are very few well favoured comedy spin offs but the first trailer for Despicable Me’s spawn the Minions looked promising. Release: June 26th
14) Untitled Steven Spielberg Cold War Project
Director: Steven Spielberg Writers: Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Mark Rylance Premise: We know nothing more than the title suggests but another collaboration between Spielberg (Jaws, ET, AI, Minority Report, Schindler’s List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park) and Hanks (Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips, Cast Away, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition) is a huge attention grabber. The pair’s previous collaborations are Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and Saving Private Ryan. Release: October 9th
13) Chappie
Director: Neill Blomkamp Writers: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell Starring: Sharlto Copley, Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver Premise: The director of District 9 takes on a slightly more light hearted venture as Chappie, a discarded robotic cop, us taken under the wing of a group of scientists who teach it. Soon, others realise that Chappie is potentially dangerous. Release: March 6th
12) The Walk
Director: Robert Zemeckis Writers: Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Browne Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale Premise: As chronicled in the Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire, stuntman Philippe Petit begins his ultimate accomplishment by wire walking from one Twin Tower to the other. This is the first teaming up of the duo Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away) and Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception). Release: October 2nd
11) Ant-Man
Director; Peyton Reed Writers: Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer, Adam McKay, Edgar Wright Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Judy Greer
10) Inside Out
Director: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen Writers: Michael Arndt, Pete Docter Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane Premise: Pixar’s second release of 2015 is the brilliantly madcap concept of emotions, symbolised as the characters above, controlling the emotions within our mind. Unlike The Good Dinosaur, this has a Pixar regular, Pete Docter (Monsters Inc, Up), at the helm as well as Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt. Release: July 24th
9) Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow Writers: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Omar Sy, Judy Greer, Jake Johnson, Vincent D’Onofrio Premise: We’re well prepared for a sequel that won’t live up to the original’s same magic. Still, Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and his new set of leads – Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Howard (The Help), Robinson (The Kings of Summer) and Simpkins (Insidious) – look set to give a fresh rebranding. Release: June 12th
8) Tomorrowland
Director: Brad Bird Writers: Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird Starring: Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Judy Greer Premise: One f the year’s most secretive releases comes from Pixar protogee Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and, while it is a fairly original prospect, it’s in fact roughly based upon Walt Disney’s own bright and bold vision of the future. Release: May 22nd
7) Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Zoe Kravitz, Nicholas Hoult Premise: Pleasing the die hard fans of the original will be a tough task but the footage so far revealed for this sequel is phenomenal. It’ll be massively entertaining to see Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Locke) in a rawer action role. Release: May 15th
6) The Martian
Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Drew Goddard Starring: Matt Damon, Jessican Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kirsten Wiig, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean Premise: The film’s tone, either epic or dramatic, has yet to have been established but it sees Damon’s astronaut stranded on the red planet. Still, we’re immediately excited to see what legendary Brit director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Black Hawk Dawn, Alien, Blade Runner) can bring next. Release: November 27th
5) Spectre
Director: Sam Mendes Writers: John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen Premise: After Skyfall became one of the undisputedly great Bond films (rivalling Dr No, Goldfinger, GoldenEye and Casino Royale) and its follow up is hoping to be just as successful. In this new adventure, Bond (Craig) tracks a mysterious signal from a previous mission and finds a secret organisation, led by Waltz’s Oberhauser. Release: October 23rd
4) In the Heart of the Sea
Director: Ron Howard Writers: Charles Leavitt, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Riley, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson Premise: Fresh off of smash hit racing drama Rush, Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) returns with a period thriller based on the true story that inspire Moby Dick. Hemsworth’s whaling crew are stranded in the see for weeks on end as the most fearsome whale they have ever witnessed haunts them. The trailer is awesome, terrifying and truly monstrous. Release: March 13th
3) Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo Del Toro Writers: Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins, Lucinda Coxon Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, Doug Jones, Burn Gorman Premise: The masterful Mexican Del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim/writer of The Hobbit trilogy, returns to properly gothic horror as aspiring author Edith Cushing (Wasikowska) moves into a new home with her sinister new husband Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston). If it’s what it promises to be, we could have a chilling masterpiece on our hands. Release: October 16th
2) The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Director: Joss Whedon Writer: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, James Spader, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Samuel L Jackson, Andy Serkis, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Stellan Skarsgard, Hayley Atwell, Thomas Kretschmann Premise: Stark’s robot peacekeeping program gets out of hand as his creation begins its own global dominations. Marvel’s other properties (Inhumans and Doctor Strange) are being set up elsewhere but this is sowing the seeds of Civil War, Black Panther and Infinity War. Still Whedon’s superhero sequel will be darker, bolder, bigger and better. Release: April 24th
1) Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
Director: JJ Abrams Writers: JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan Starring: Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Warwick Davis, Christina Chong, Iko Uwais, Maisie Richardson Sellers Premise: Besides the setting (30 years on from Return of the Jedi) we know almost nothing but how could anything else be number one? Perhaps it would have been lower down before that trailer landed but it just blew 90% of our worries out the water. We’re equally terrified and excited to what JJ will produce. Others may be surefire hits but this is the one we hope for the most. Release: December 18th
Heroes have had their fair share of screentime this year. The clean cut likes of The Winter Soldier’s Steve Rogers, The Lego Movie’s Emmett or The Amazing Spider-Man rival the questionable motives of those who tread a far finer line between right and wrong (Guardians’ Rocket, Grand Budapest Hotel’s M Gustave, almost everyone except the robots in Interstellar, Godzilla and Noah), sometimes even crossing it. But we’re dedicating this one to the more outright villains we’ve had in the past year. To reveal our mega-spoilery honourable mention for Interstellar, highlight the line of text below:
Honourable Mention: Doctor Mann (Matt Damon) – Interstellar
5) Lord Business/The Man Upstairs (Will Ferrell) – The Lego Movie
4) Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) – The Boxtrolls
3) Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) – X-Men: Days of Future Past
2) Jopling (Willem Dafoe) – The Grand Budapest Hotel
1) Koba (Toby Kebbell) – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Al Pacino is perhaps the greatest actor of the past fifty years. The Oscar winning star of Scarface, Serpico, Heat, Scent of a Woman, Dog Day Afternoon, Insomnia, Carlito’s Way, Donnie Brasco and The Godfather trilogy did, earlier in the year, express interest in a collaboration with Marvel following his viewing and immediate delight in their space-set smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy. He’s now confirmed that he’s met up with Marvel’s studio head Kevin Feige about the possibility of a role in the films.
“I would imagine either there’s something he feels is right for me,” he explained. For different roles the mysterious part of Star Lord’s father is still up for grabs; hopefully he won’t get stuck as a generic villain. Other more venerable actors to take the step into the fray of Marvel’s action packed world include Anthony Hopkins in Thor, Michael Douglas in Ant-Man, Jeff Bridges in Iron Man, Tommy Lee Jones in The First Avenger and Robert Redford in The Winter Soldier. It’s no long stretch to imagine Pacino accepting such a role. The Marvel movies up for casting are Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Inhumans and The Avengers: Infinity War.
Although the story was comprehensively covered in the Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire, the death defying accomplishment of tightrope walker Philippe Petit, who walked on wire from one Twin Tower to the other, will be seen on screen again in The Walk, the first trailer for which has been released. Robert Zemeckis, director of Back to the Future, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact and Forrest Gump, commands the cast of Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper, Inception, Lincoln), Charlotte Le Bon (Mood Indigo, The Hundred Foot Journey), James Badge Dale (Iron Man 3, World War Z) and Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Hugo, Shutter Island).
Starring: Isaac Hempstead Wright, Ben Kingsley, Elle Fanning, Jared Harris, Richard Ayoade, Nick Frost, Jared Harris, Dee Bradley Baker, Steve Blum, Tracy Morgan, Toni Collette, Simon Pegg
Laika are the biggest rising stars in the world of animation at the moment. Their promise originated with the incredible Coraline which was followed up by the entertaining ParaNorman. Their purpose seems to be showcasing animation with more of a bite than your usual Disney fare. Their third feature, The Boxtrolls, will be the test on whether the studio can be in for the long haul so the result are understandably crucial.
The gothic, dairy-obsessed town of Cheesebridge are supposedly plagued by baby kidnapping monsters called Boxtrolls. They are in fact harmless creatures scavenging the town of its mechanical goods but Archibald Snatcher (Kingsley) is dispatched to hunt them down by local aristocrat Lord Portley Rind (Harris). Years later, Portley Rind’s adventurous daughter Winnie (Fanning) discovers the Boxtrolls’ true nature when she encounters a boy they’ve adopted, Eggs (Hempstead Wright).
Considering that Coraline’s scares slowly developed before lunging out in the final third, ParaNorman may have approached horror from the obvious route with zombies and death galore. This time round, the approach seems to be more of a family fantasy adventure, stripping away much of the more blatantly sinister apparel. What remains it certainly an entertaining watch but maybe not quite exciting. The events play out in a slightly unengaging, borderline predictable, manner.
You’d expect that, deprived of the studio’s use of horror to rely on, writers Adam Pava and Irena Brignull would perhaps more heavily invest in the comedy but are aren’t quite enough laugh out loud gags to satisfy. It does however introduce some brilliantly loveable character. Eggs is a far less bland hero than the aforementioned Norman. He has an interesting character arc in which he comes to terms with not actually being a Boxtroll.
The actual plot kickstarts with a chance encounter between Eggs and the strong willed young girl Winnie, voiced by Super 8’s Elle Fanning (putting on an English accent for the second time this year after Maleficent). Confidently rebelling from her oblivious father, she possesses a strangely dark obsession with The Boxtrolls and their supposedly murderous ways.
Her bonding with Eggs takes up the bulk of the second half which leaves the Trolls themselves in annoyingly small roles even though they are the film’s most delightful feature. They’re initially very similar to Despicable Me’s Minions but they don’t have the same violent tendencies, being in fact charmingly gentle. This only makes their relegation all the more frustrating.
Another character confusingly low in screentime is Winnie’s mother. Voicing the role is Oscar nominated actress Toni Collette who gets a high billing but I don’t remember having a single line in the film. Despite possessing the capable acting chops of Jared Harris, the role of the Portley Rind father is wasted on continuous huffing and sighing.
With the Boxtroll’s murders debunked, the true villain unsurprisingly emerges as the monstrous Archibald Snatcher, fantastically voiced by an unrecognisable Ben Kingsley. Whilst malevolently torturing the Trolls, his main desire is to join an elitist, cheese-celebrating gathering called The White Hats but, in a fitting parable, his lust is also his downfall. Compared to the more elegant likes of Maleficent, President Snow or Loki, it’s a nice change of pace to have a genuinely revolting lead villain.
He isn’t alone however; Snatcher is backed up by a trio of bumbling henchman, two of whom aren’t entirely sure is they’re on the right side – the other a bizarre, mindlessly headbutt first, ask later type. Again we don’t get to know any of them particularly well but the lovable tones of Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead) and Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) are plenty to go on.
Laika’s use of stop motion his probably what gives it a unique homegrown sense over other studios and here they make stunning use of it. The character transitions are more fluid than ever and the detail in the character’s and sets is astonishing. Sadly the overblown and ambitious finale seems a tad too reliant on CG tinkering but what isn’t these days.
This is an abominably cruel criticism but, tonally, the film’s heart might be too much in the right place – it’s more mischievous than menacing. Even with dashes of darkness, I missed Laika’s usual ferocity but the bags of charm present can’t go ignored. There are some greatly entertaining pieces in character forming but the Boxtrolls themselves steal the segments of the show they are delegated.
“Where are the rivers of blood and the mountains of bones? I was promised rivers of blood!”
Guardians of the Galaxy, starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker and Vin Diesel, may be one of ten Marvel Cinematic Universe releases but it is the most important yet. Its greatly extended the franchise’s future by both being renewed for a whole trilogy but also proving that Marvel can outlive its original Avengers characters, played by Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L Jackson. The wave of new heroes including Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Vision (Paul Bettany), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), Falcon (Anthony Mackie) Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) is on the way but the casting for Doctor Strange has proved elusive.
Jared Leto (Requiem For a Dream, Dallas Buyers Club), Tom Hardy (Locke, The Dark Knight Rises), Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise, Training Day) have all been seriously named in connection but this summer Joaquin Phoenix (Her, Gladiator, The Master) was confirmed to be in negotiations for the role. These discussions seemed to have been taking far too long and it was suspected that Phoenix, in the peak of his dramatic career, was reluctant to sign on for a comic book role. Our worries have been confirmed as Phoenix has officially dropped out for that reason. This seems a little unjustified; Jeff Bridges, Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Kingsley, Robert Redford, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, John C Reilly, Glenn Close and Michael Douglas have already played roles in the series. At the moment, I’d top Ethan Hawke in favour of the role. Scott Derickson (Sinister) directs.
It has been known for some time that Dwayne Johnson (Fast and Furious 5, Doom, The Scorpion King) will take one of two roles in the planned DC adaptation Shazam. The character, who he has been teasing bit by bit, would either be the heroic Shazam or the villainous Black Adam. The former wrestler took to Twitter to announce that he will be playing Black Adam although recent evidence suggests that the film will have no immediate ties to the rest of the Justice League universe, begun by 2013’s Man of Steel. No director has yet been confirmed for the film but Arrow’s Geoff Johns will write it.
Fast approaching the age of 80, Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, American Gangster, Prometheus) is probably at the most productive point in his career. While finishing post production on biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, the Oscar nominee is busy developing three other projects. He may reunite with Harrison Ford for Blade Runner 2 as well as Prometheus 2 with Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender but he’s also attempting to release sci-fi thriller The Martian, starring Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity, Ocean’s Eleven, Saving Private Ryan, The Departed, Good Will Hunting, The Talented Mr Ripley). It’s been reported that Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life) and Kristen Wiig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Bridesmaids) are both in talks to be expanding the cast list.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has drawn in some of the greats of 21st century mainstream film (Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany, Natalie Portman, Josh Brolin), hit the reset button on some fledging careers (Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson) and turned relative unknowns (Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Tom Hiddleston) into superstar icons. They also seem to have a knack for attracting from greatly renowned venerable actors such as Jeff Bridges, Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones, Stellan Skarsgard, Ben Kingsley, Glenn Close, Michael Douglas and Robert Redford. Now, Al Pacino (The Godfather trilogy, Donnie Brasco, Scarface, Heat, Insomnia) has, albeit jokingly, expressed interest in a role.
Pacino is one Empire’s five “Gods Among Us”, flanked by Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando, and after being thrilled by a screening of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. He had this to say “I would do anything that I could understand in terms of how I fit in it. And you know, of course if I could fit in it. Anything’s possible. You know, I did Dick Tracy and I got an Oscar nomination, so come on. I mean, what can I say?” If Pacino had a genuine superhero, or more likely supervillain, I’d be massively excited to see him join the franchises mega-cast.
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