Review of 2015 from January to August

A couple of months ago we released our top picks for the first half of the year but, with the summer season finishing, we’ll give an overview of the year’s films from a commercial and critical perspective.

Film: Taken 3
Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace, Dougray Scott
IMDb/RT: 6.1/10 – 9%
Budget: $48 million
Opening weekend: $39 million
Box-office: $325 million
Summary: The second highest grossing outing in the series is thankfully the last. There’s been growth since Taken ($226 million) but less than Taken 3 ($376 million).

Film: Blackhat
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Leehom Wang, Ritchie Coster, Holt McCallany, Viola Davis
IMDb/RT: 5.4/10 – 34%
Budget: $70 million
Opening weekend: $4 million
Box-office: $18 million
Summary: The star of Thor ($644 million) and Rush ($90 million) and the director of Heat ($187 million) and Collateral ($217 million) should have been a match-up to enjoy but somehow Blackhat flopped.

Film: The Wedding Ringer
Director: Jeremy Garelick
Starring: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuco Sweeting, Alan Richson, Jorge Garcia
IMDb/RT: 6.7 – 27%
Budget: $23 million
Opening weekend: $20 million
Box-office: $79 million
Summary: A slip up in comparison to Kevin Hart’s 2014 hit Ride Along ($154 million).

Film: Mortdecai
Director: David Koepp
Starring: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Paul Bettany
IMDb/RT: 5.5/10 – 12%
Budget: $60 million
Opening weekend: $4 million
Box-office: $30 million
Summary: This disastrous caper is proof of former superstar Johnny Depp’s dwindling popularity outside of Pirates.

Film: Jupiter Ascending
Directors: Andy and Lana Wachowski
Starring: Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Terry Gilliam
IMDb/RT: 5.5/10 – 25%
Budget: $176 million
Opening weekend: $18 million
Box-office: $182 million
Summary: This effort from the creators of The Matrix ($463 million) suffered from its release delays and ridiculously overpriced budget.

Film: Fifty Shades of Grey
Director: Sam Taylor Johnson
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eloise Mumford, Jennifer Ehle, Marcia Gay Harden
IMDb/RT: 4.2/10 – 25%
Budget: $40 million
Opening weekend: $85 million
Box-office: $570 million
Summary: Being critically reviled didn’t get in the way of this erotic drama.

Film: Kingsman: The Secret Service
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Samuel L Jackson, Sophie Cookson, Mark Strong
IMDb/RT: 7.8/10 – 75%
Budget: $81 million
Opening weekend: $35 million
Box-office: $406 million
Summary: The spy thriller from Kick-Ass ($96 million) Vaughn turned out to be his most acclaimed and profitable yet, even out grossing the likes of The Bourne Legacy ($276 million).

Film: Focus
Director: Glenn Ficara, John Requa
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro, Gerald McRaney, BD Wong
IMDb/RT: 6.6/10 – 57%
Budget: $50 million
Opening weekend: $19 million
Box-office: $159 million
Summary: A strong performance from Smith renews his popularity after the mediocre After Earth ($243 million).

Film: Chappie
Director: Neill Blompkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Die Antwoord
IMDb/RT: 7.0/10 – 30%
Budget: $49 million
Opening weekend: $13 million
Box-office: $102 million
Summary: A let down in comparison to Blomkamp’s more lucrative works – District 9 ($210 million) or Elysium ($286 million).

Film: Cinderella
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgard, Helena Bonham Carter
IMDb/RT: 7.1/10 – 85%
Budget: $95 million
Opening weekend: $68 million
Box-office: $542 million
Summary: Branagh’s lavish take on the period fantasy romance has successfully found a new following for the fairy tale.

Film: Insurgent
Director: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Kate Winslet
IMDb/RT: 6.4/10 – 30%
Budget: $110 million
Opening weekend: $53 million
Box-office: $295 million
Summary: The Divergent series has quickly turned out to be the inferior of The Hunger Games.

Film: Home
Director: Tim Johnson
Starring: Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Jones, Steve Martin
IMDb/RT: 6.7/10 – 45%
Budget: $135 million
Opening weekend: $52 million
Box-office: $387 million
Summary: Dreamworks are struggling to stand out with their new properties in a market dominated by the likes of Warner Bros’ The Lego Movie or Disney’s Frozen.

Film: Get Hard
Director: Etan Cohen
Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Alison Brie, Tip Harris, Craig T Nelson
IMDb/RT: 6.1/10 – 29%
Budget: $40 million
Opening weekend: $34 million
Box-office: $106 million
Summary: The combination of these celebrated comics ought to have been special but didn’t come close.

Film: Furious 7
Director: James Wan
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham
IMDb/RT: 7.4/10 – 81%
Budget: $190 million
Opening weekend: $147 million
Box-office: $1.512 billion
Summary: The blockbuster sequel made seven times more than the original did 14 years ago ($207 million) but the series might not have much room to grow into for film eight.

Film: The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, James Spader
IMDb/RT: 7.8/10 – 74%
Budget: $280 million
Opening weekend: $191 million
Box-office: $1.401 billion
Summary: A slight slip up from 2012’s Avengers Assemble ($1.520 billion), the sequel still delivered the goods for the fans.

Film: Pitch Perfect 2
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks
IMDb/RT: 6.7 – 67%
Budget: $29 million
Opening weekend: $69 million
Box-office: $285 million
Summary: Pitch Perfect is quickly rivaling Jump Street and Bridesmaids to be the best comedy of the decade so far, while growing from the original’s $115 million.

Film: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington Whitely, Zoe Kravitz, Nicholas Hoult
IMDb/RT: 8.3/10 – 98%
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $45 million
Box-office: $374 million
Summary: A stunningly successful return from the road warrior.

Film: Tomorrowland
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Hugh Laurie
IMDb/RT: 6.6/10 – 50%
Budget: $190 million
Opening weekend: $33 million
Box-office: $208 million
Summary: While it polarized critics, concealing many secrets during marketing may have been the financial downfall of the underrated sci-fi adventure and another disappointment for Disney after John Carter ($284 million) and The Lone Ranger ($260 million).

Film: San Andreas
Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Ioan Gruffudd, Paul Giamatti
IMDb/RT: 6.4/10 – 50%
Budget: $110 million
Opening weekend: $55 million
Box-office: $469 million
Summary: The disaster thriller was a success but not a 2012 ($769 million) style smash hit.

Film: Spy
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Jude Law
IMDb/RT: 7.3/10 – 94%
Budget: $65 million
Opening weekend: $29 million
Box-office: $236 million
Summary: After striking big with Bridesmaids ($288 million) and The Heat ($229 million), Paul Feig is continuing to put himself on a good track for the Ghost Busters reboot.

Film: Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Vincent D’Onofrio
IMDb/RT: 7.3/10 – 71%
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $208 million
Box-office: $1.642 billion
Summary: With a sequel coming in 2018, the franchise (dormant for fourteen years) is now set for big things.

Film: Inside Out
Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Kyle MacLachlan
IMDb/RT: 8.6/10 – 98%
Budget: $175 million
Opening weekend: $90 million
Box-office: $701 million
Summary: Inside Out has become Pixar’s third biggest original feature.

Film: Ted 2
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Stewart
IMDb/RT: 6.6/10 – 46%
Budget: $68 million
Opening weekend: $33.5 million
Box-office: $180 million
Summary: A very disappointing follow up to 2012’s Ted ($549 million). After the mediocre performance of MacFarlane’s western A Million Ways to Die in the West ($86 million), there’s increasing doubt in the Family Guy creator’s popularity.

Film: Terminator Genisys
Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, JK Simmons
IMDb/RT: 6.9/10 – 26%
Budget: $155 million
Opening weekend: $27 million
Box-office: $352 million
Summary: While it was a healthy opening but the franchise has long lost its previously stellar hype. Still not an improvement on 2009’s Terminator Salvation ($371 million).

Film: Magic Mike XXL
Director: Gregory Jacobs
Starring: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith
IMDb/RT: 6.3/10 – 65%
Budget: $14 million
Opening weekend: $123 million
Box-office: $117 million
Summary: The progressive stripper comedy sequel has decreased from Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 original ($167 million) and other raunchy blockbusters have been more profitable – for example Fifty Shades of Grey ($569 million) – but it’s still an impressive tally.

Film: Minions
Directors: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Pierre Coffin, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Geoffrey Rush
IMDb/RT: 6.7/10 – 54%
Budget: $74 million
Opening weekend: $115 million
Box-office: $1.004 billion
Summary: This triumphant spin off managed to surpass and compete with the previous instalments of the beloved Despicable Me franchise ($543 million – $970 million).

Film: Ant-Man
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Michael Douglas
IMDb/RT: 7.8/10 – 79%
Budget: $130 million
Opening weekend: $57 million
Box-office: $363 million
Summary: It’s an underperformance in comparison to Marvel’s fellow Phase 2 superhero flicks such as Iron Man 3 ($1215 million), Thor: The Dark World ($644 million), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714 million) or Guardians of the Galaxy ($774 million) but is a worthy reception for the kings of summer blockbusters.

Film: Trainwreck
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, John Cena, Tilda Swinton
Budget: $35 million
Opening weekend: $30 million
Box-office: $123 million
Summary: A traditional fooled-around-and-fell-in-love rom-com might have sank but the presence of rising star Amy Schumer has elevated this to the likes of Apatow’s The 40 Year Old Virgin ($177 million) or Knocked Up ($219 million).

Film: Pixels
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage
IMDb/RT: 5.6/10 – 17%
Budget: $88 million
Opening weekend: $24 million
Box-office: $174 million
Summary: This sci-fi adventure’s financial reception didn’t live up to the premise but a budget half the size of Tomorrowland’s means that it may actually breakeven at the box-office.

Film: Southpaw
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Oona Laurence, Naomie Harris, Rachel McAdams
IMDb/RT: 7.8/10 – 60%
Budget: $25 million
Opening weekend: $17 million
Box-office: $67 million
Summary: This sport drama failed to rekindle the mass popularity of boxing flicks such as Rocky ($225 million).

Film: Paper Towns
Director: Jake Schreir
Starring: Nat Wolff, Cara Delevingne, Halston Sage, Jaz Sinclair, Austin Abrams
IMDb/RT: 6.9/10 – 55%
Budget: $12 million
Opening weekend: $13 million
Box-office: $75 million
Summary: A decent opening for the young adult romantic drama but well off the other John Green adaptation The Fault in Our Stars ($307 million).

Film: Vacation
Directors: Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley
Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Chevy Chase
IMDb/RT: 6.3/10 – 26%
Budget: $31 million
Opening weekend: $15 million
Box-office: $69 million
Summary: The comedy reboot of the adored Chevy Chase franchise didn’t inspire a great amount of nostalgia for fans of the originals.

Film: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin
IMDb/RT: 7.8/10 – 93%
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $56 million
Box-office: $445 million
Summary: The Cruise action vehicle builds off the wobble of Edge of Tomorrow ($369 million). The spy series returned in style and will grow throughout the summer.

Film: Fantastic Four
Director: Josh Trank
Starring: Miles Teller, Michael B Jordan, Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, Toby Kebbell
IMDb/RT: 4.0/10 – 8%
Budget: $120 million
Opening weekend: $26 million
Box-office: $134 million
Summary: A superhero reboot full of hope and promise morphed into the year’s most depressing car crash. It was even a decrease from the 2005 film ($330 million) and its sequel ($289 million).

Film: Straight Outta Compton
Director: F Gary Gray
Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge, Paul Giamatti
IMDb/RT: 8.4/10 – 89%
Budget: $28 million
Opening weekend: $60 million
Box-office: $125 million
Summary: The musical biopic has become one of August’s biggest hits but did smaller numbers than 2002’s Eminem effort 8 Mile ($242 million).

Film: The Man From UNCLE
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Grant
IMDb/RT: 7.6/10 – 67%
Budget: $75 million
Opening weekend: $13 million
Box-office: $57 million
Summary: The star studded spy thriller from the director of the Sherlock Holmes films ($524 million – $545 million) has struggled to find a home with fans.

The Best of 2015 – Half way review

In the first sixth months of 2015, we haven’t quite yet found a release worthy of the prestigious 10/10 score but there’s been no shortage of box-office goods with three films already breaching the $1 billion mark with more to come.

Worldwide:

1. Furious 7 – Director: James Wan – Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker – $1,511,636,779
2. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson – $1,372,063,254
3. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard – $1,259,873,609
4. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson – Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan – $569,651,467
5. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh – Lily James, Cate Blanchett – $538,986,777
6. San Andreas – Peyton Reed – Dwayne Johnson, Alexandra Daddario – $441,858,144
7. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Colin Firth, Taron Egerton – $403,788,617
8. Home – Tim Johnson – Jim Parsons, Rihanna – $367,811,449
9. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron – $356,649,491
10. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton – Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker – $325,771,424

US:

1. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard – $514,374,155
2. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson – $452,963,254
3. Furious 7 – James Wan – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker – $351,032,910
4. Inside Out – Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen – $200,844,477
5. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh – Lily James, Cate Blanchett – $200,286,777
6. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson – $181,513,690
7. Home – Tim Johnson – Jim Parsons, Rihanna – $174,901,605
8. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson – Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan – $166,167,230
9. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Paul Tibbitt – $162,994,032
10. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron – $147,594,972

UK:

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson – £49,096,981
2. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard – £39,216,914
3. Furious 7 – James Wan – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker – £38,399,325
4. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson – Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan – £33,065,566
5. Home – Tim Johnson – Jim Parsons, Rihanna – £24,908,077
6. Cinderella – Kenneth Branagh – Lily James, Cate Blanchett – £20,886,693
7. The Theory of Everything – James Marsh – Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones – £20,446,079
8. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – TJ Miller, Maya Rudolph – £19.527,404
9. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson – £17,466,588
10. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron – £17,260,896

Here’s our personal top 7 for January to June. To give you a taste of our opinions, 2014’s top picks were Interstellar, Nightcrawler, Boyhood, Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

8) Into the Woods

Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine
Budget: $50 million
Box-office: $212.9 million

7) Tomorrowland

Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Raffey Cassidy, Pierce Gagnon, Hugh Laurie
Budget: $190 million
Box-office: $202 million

6) Minions

Director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Starring: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Geoffrey Rush
Budget: $74 million
Box-office: $141 million

5) The Theory of Everything

Director: James Marsh
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Simon McBurney, David Thewlis
Budget: $15 million
Box-office: $121.2 million

4) Still Alice

Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Hunter Parrish, Kate Bosworth
Budget: $5 million
Box-office: $41.8 million

3) Selma

Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Oprah Winfrey, Tim Roth
Budget: $20 million
Box-office: $66.8 million

2) The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner
Budget: $280 million
Box-office: $1.3 billion

1) Jurassic World

Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Jake Johnson, Vincent D’Onofrio
Budget: $150 million
Box-office: $1,2 billion

Tomorrowland review

Director: Brad Bird

Starring: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Pierce Gagnon, Thomas Robinson, Keegan Michael Key, Kathryn Hahn

After Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney have struggled to bring high-budget live action films to screen successfully. Besides reboots of other films such as Tron: Legacy ($400 million), Maleficent ($758 million) and Alice in Wonderland ($1 billion), they’ve got disappointing results from Prince of Persia ($335 million), John Carter ($284 million) and The Lone Ranger ($260 million). Sci-fi adventure Tomorrowland is their latest effort and with fan hero Brad Bird at the helm we’re hoping this can be a turnaround for the Mouse House.

Optimistic youth Casey Newton (Robertson) comes into possession of an antique pin that transports her to another dimension, the futuristic metropolis of Tomorrowland where Earth’s geniuses a free to create any impossible creation. In order to return, she tracks down a Tomorrowland former resident, jaded ex-child prodigy Frank Walker (Clooney), but a device he created spells the doom of both worlds.

During the promotion for the film at last year’s San Diego Comic Con, Brad Bird unveiled a mysterious box labelled “1952”, the film’s working title. The box contained various clues as to the secrets behind the story. The film itself is much like this: it’s a box jam packed with incredible concepts but messily thrown together to form a narrative. This isn’t the first time writer Damon Lindelof has had this problem. His Prometheus was filled with sequences of stunning scope and suspense but dialogue mishaps and gaping plot holes dragged it down.

The first clear mistake is the dual opening. First we see young George Clooney (Thomas Robinson), a hopeful but underrated child prodigy who takes his hand-made jet pack to the 1964 World’s Fair. When his invention is turned down for its impracticality, he follows the mysterious young girl Athena (Raffey Cassidy) into Tomorrowland. Then in 2003, adventurous teen Casey Newton is arrested for breaking into a NASA facility and, once released, finds in her belongings a mysterious pin that transports her to the incredible alternate dimension. Both threads of the story are excellent but when played one after the other it bloats the film to the 130 minute runtime and takes ages to get going.

The highlight of these explosions of imaginative sci-fi cinema is a sequence in which are heroes have journeyed to the Eiffel Tower and it is revealed that Tomorrowland’s founding fathers (Gustave Eiffel, Jules Verne, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison) built the Paris icon as a steampunk ship to travel to Tomorrowland. There’s a fantastic set piece where Clooney defends his dilapidated home from a hoard of rogue androids with an ensemble of inventive gadgetry. These stunning sequences showcase Brad Bird’s (whose previous hits include The Incredibles, Mission Impssible 4 and The Iron Giant) one of a kind directorial eye.

The performances are admirable too: Clooney shines as soon as he ditches the repeatable arrogance he brought to his characters in the Ocean’s films and Burn After Reading in what’s been his first summer blockbuster since 1997’s (shudder) Batman & Robin. By approaching Frank as someone jaded and damaged it makes the role is most sincere in a very long time. Britt Robertson, of Under the Dome fame, makes a star making turn as Casey with hope, warmth and the achingly rare quality of genuine likeability.

Young British star Raffey Cassidy also impresses as Athena – a character whose youthful exterior covers one of the more secretive members of the ensemble. Still, the true scene-stealing comes from House star Hugh Laurie as David Nix (essentially an evil Walt Disney). Nix’s leadership of Tomorrowland may be dooming both it and Earth to ruin but he is intent that both are a long-broken lost cause. Laurie has the correct mix of menace and empathy but he actually undoes our belief in him being the enemy once he makes points about Earth’s irreparable injustice.

Whilst it boasts first rate acting, direction and overall concepts, Damon Lindelof’s curse of juggling to many ideas to count, throwing them at the wall and expecting the audience to keep up is its downfall. With that – and the finale’s frustrating logic – aside, this is a remarkably ambitious effort at reviving the great spirit and aspirations of Walt Disney himself without the alleged self indulgence of Saving Mr Banks. A fitting tribute and a rare marvel of a risk-taking sci-fi adventure.

7/10

“Have you ever wondered what would happen, if all the geniuses, the artists, the scientists, the smartest, most creative people in the world decided to actually change it ? Where, where could they even do such a thing ? They’d need a place free from politics and bureaucracy, distractions, greed – a secret place where they could build whatever they were crazy enough to imagine”

Weekend box-office – 23rd of May to 5th of June 2015 – will Tomorrowland enhance the future?

We’ve have two weeks of box-office to cover.

Firstly, in the biggest movie showdown since Interstellar and Big Hero 6 went head to head last November, post-apocalypric action reboot Mad Max: Fury Road – starring Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and Charlize Theron (Prometheus) – rivals musical comedy sequel Pitch Perfect 2 – starring Anna Kendrick (Into the Woods) and Rebel Wilson (Night at the Museum 3). This two horse race culminates in a major week for the box-office and last week we predicted a pitch perfect opening for the Barden Bellas.

Week 1:

US:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Director: Elizabeth Banks – $69.2 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $45.4 million
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – $38.9 million
4. Hot Pursuit – Anne Fletcher – $5.7 million
5. Fast & Furious 7 – James Wan – $3.6 million

UK:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £5 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £4.5 million
3. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £1.7 million
4. Spooks: The Greater Good – Bharat Nalluri – £0.5 million
5. Far From the Madding Crowd – Thomas Vinterberg – £0,4 million

Week 2:

In the next week, Brad Bird (the mind behind the hits The Iron Giant, The Incredible and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) is launching his sci-fi spectacle Tomorrowland. At $190 million in costs, it might turn out to be another of Disney’s high budget/high profile live action disappointments John Carter and The Lone Ranger, despite the fact that talented directors Andrew Stanton (WALL-E) and Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) were at the helm.

US:

1. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond – Brad Bird – $33 million
2. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – $30.8 million
3. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – $24.6 million
4. Poltergeist – Gil Kenan – $22.6 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – $21. 7 million

UK:

1. Pitch Perfect 2 – Elizabeth Banks – £2.7 million
2. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller – £2.6 million
3. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond – Brad Bird – £1.5 million
4. Poltergeist – Gil Kenan – £1.5 million
5. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Joss Whedon – £1.1 million

Anna Kendrick in Pitch Perfect 2, last week’s US and UK number one and this week’s UK number one.

Britt Robertson in Tomorrowland, this week’s US number one.

Carell Vs Stone in tennis drama, McGregor joins Beauty and Beast and new posters for Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland

Documentaries are often becoming the base of new dramatic films: similar ground in 2010’s multi-BAFTA-winning Senna in covered in Ron Howard’s equally lauded Rush while Oscar winners Man on Wire and Citizenfour are soon to be adapted into Robert Zemeckis’ tightrope adventure The Walk and Oliver Stone’s NSA thriller Snowden (both, coincidently, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. It received far less exposure than the aforementioned films but the 2013 documentary The Battle of the Sexes told the true story of the 1973 tennis match between women’s Wimbledon winner Billie Jean King and retired male champ Bobby Riggs and the underlying sexual politics that the game represented.

The lead stars of the new adaptation are the Crazy Stupid Love costars and recent Oscar nominees Steve Carell (Despicable Me, Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Office, Foxcatcher) and Emma Stone (The Help, Easy A, The Amazing Spider-Man, Zombieland, Birdman). The directors are Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks) and is written by Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire).

Disney’s new liveaction adaptation of their classic animation Beauty and the Beast has already garnered an incredible ensemble. Bill Condon (Kinsey, Dreamgirls, Mr Holmes) will be helming the cast of Emma Watson (Harry Potter, My Week Marilyn), Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Fast & Furious 6), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, The Guest), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle, Jupiter Ascending), Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks, Sense and Sensibility), Josh Gad (Frozen, The Wedding Ringer), Audra McDonald (Private Practive), Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda, Cry Freedom) and Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, X-Men). The newest addition is Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Big Fish) who’ll play the talking candle Lumiere, famed for the iconic Oscar nominated number Be Our Guest.

Tomorrowland (sometimes known as A World Beyond) is a new Disney science fiction mystery adventure that was plucked right off the drawing board of Walt Disney himself. Brand new posters for the film have been revealed. Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Incredibles) directs the cast of George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven, Syriana, Gravity), Britt Robertson (The Longest Ride, Under the Dome), Judy Greer (Archer, Men Women & Children) and Hugh Laurie (House).

Tomorrowland – May 22nd

Beauty and the Beast – 2017

Battle of the Sexes – 2017

Sigourney Weaver discusses Alien 5 and new poster for Tomorrowland

Control of the Alien franchise has passed through various great directors: firstly Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) then James Cameron (Avatar, Terminator, Titanic) and a disastrous debut for David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Social Network). Not counting the AVP or Prometheus spin offs, the fifth film in the series will be helmed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and, during promotion for his new robo-thriller Chappie, he offered a bit of insight on the project.

“I had a bunch of different ideas for different films. My favourite, on a gut instinct, artistic level, was Alien, by a long way. But I had this inhibiting mental roadblock about wanting to work on my own stuff – and not being held accountable, whether it’s by a studio or by fans, or whoever, I just wanted to be left alone to do my stuff. That’s kind of a big deal for me. If you go back even three or four years, I’ve wanted to make a film in that genre, in that franchise. I’d come up with an idea, and when I met Sigourney (Weaver) on the set of Chappie, I presumed that she would never want to play Ripley again. Rightly or wrongly, I had that in my head. I also didn’t know where you could go with her, given Alien 3 and 4.

“So when I started speaking to her, I just wanted to know more about the process of making the first two films. The first two are the ones that I care about. Then I started to realise there was a whole film – at least a film, if not more – that still contained Ripley, which I was really surprised by.” Weaver herself has approved the South African filmmaker. “I can’t think of a better director. He’s a real fan. I think he’ll be true to the world and take it in unexpected directions. It’s got a lot of sinew in it. It will certainly stand up to the others and probably break a lot of new ground as well.”

Its been one of 2015’s most secretive films but the brand new poster for Tomorrowland may have fans scouring for clues. The film, directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) sees a young woman and a reclusive scientist discovering a hidden metropolis where science can do the work of magic. It’ll star George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven, Gravity, The Descendants), Britt Robertson (Under the Dome), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Hugh Laurie (House).

Tomorrowland – May 22nd

Alien 5 – 2017?

The 2015 Super-Bowl Special – Jurassic World, Terminator 5, Insurgent, Furious 7 and more!

America’s biggest sporting event attracts America’s biggest crowd (around 100 million viewers). The Super-Bowl Sunday’s Phoenix setting saw a showdown between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots but we’re a bit more focused on those movie exclusives showcased inbetween. With this audience, film studios are willing to dish out $8 million per sixty seconds of advertising. Firstly:

Film: Terminator Genisys
Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, Matt Smith, JK Simmons
Premise: He’s back. In the new timeline, Kyle Reese travel back in time to discover that Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and T-800 (Schwarzenegger) have long been fighting the machines.
Release: July 3rd

Film: Insurgent
Director: Robert Schwentke
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz, Octavia Spencer
Premise: Divergent’s sequel gets a Matrix-style revamp sees Tris (Woodley) preventing all out chaos in her dystopian future.
Release: March 20th

Film: Furious 7
Director: James Wan
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Djimon Hounsou, Kurt Russell
Premise: Deckard Shaw (Staham) is out for revenge on the gang. Watch the trailer and you may well have found the best stunt of 2015
Release: April 3rd

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Film: Jurassic World
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Judy Greer, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, Lauran Lapkus, Omar Sy
Premise: The park is finally open but an attempt to breed a new species, Indominus Rex, goes disastrously.
Release: June 12th

Film: Tomorrowland
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie
Premise: Walt Disney’s vision of a secret metropolis (where science can do the work of miracles) comes to life.
Release: May 22nd

Film: Seventh Son
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Starring: Ben Barnes, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Kit Harrington, Alicia Vikander, Djimon Hounsou, Olivia Williams, Antje Traue
Premise: Local hermit and magician Gregory (Bridges) recruits the young Thomas (Barnes) to battle the evil Malkin (Moore)
Release: March 27th

Film: Inside Out
Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
Starring: Kaitlyn Dias, Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan
Premise: Pixar explores the literally conflicting emotions inside the head of a young girl as she moves across the country.
Release: July 24th

Various releases (Ant-Man, San Andreas, Chappie, Avengers 2) missed out on cashing in on this advertising goldmine but we still look forward to seeing them soon.

The 2015 Preview Issue

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.

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Director: Joss Whedon – $1.7 billion
2. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – JJ Abrams – $1.4 billion
3. Spectre – Sam Mendes – $1.2 billion
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $925 million
5. Furious 7 – James Wan – $875 million
6. Minions – Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin – $800 million
7. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – $775 million
8. Inside Out – Pete Docter – $725 million
9. Mission: Impossible 5 – Christopher McQuarrie – $700 million
10. Ant-Man – Peyton Reed – $675 million
11. The Good Dinosaur – Peter Sohn – $625 million
12. Ted 2 – Seth MacFarlane – $600 million
13. Terminator Genisys – Alan Taylor – $575 million
14. The Fantastic Four – Josh Trank – $550 million
15. 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

First teaser for Tomorrowland with Britt Robertson and George Clooney

There’s a worry that 2015’s major releases (Avengers 2, Star Wars 7, Fast and Furious 7, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, Inside Out, Terminator: Genisys, The Fantastic Four, Mad Max: Fury Road, Bond 24, Mission: Impossible 5, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2) may sweep it away but Tomorrowland is shaping up to be an entertaining watch. The sci-fi adventure stars George Clooney (Gravity, Ocean’s Eleven), Britt Robertson (Under the Dome), Judy Greer (Archer) and Hugh Laurie (House) star while Brad Bird (The Incredibles) directs.

Tomorrowland – May 22nd 2015

New posters for Hobbit 3, Downey Jr talks Iron Man 4 and Dad’s Army line up revealed

Dad’s Army is one of the most popular British serial comedies of all time. A huge announcement was made when Toby Jones (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Hunger Games) was cast as Captain Mainwaring and Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead) as Sergeant Wilson. The rest of the ensemble has now been revealed. Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago) is Corporal Jones, Daniel Mays (The Adventures of Tintin) as Private Walker, Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners) as Private Pike, Bill Paterson (The Killing Fields) as Frazer and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) as Private Godfrey. Sarah Lancashire (Lark Rise to Candleford), Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) and Catherine Zeta Jones (Chicago, The Terminal) have been cast in unspecified roles.

Its no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe are planning all the way to 2018 by building from the original Avengers characters. Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Doctor Strange will eventually succeed as the lead stars of the franchise. Still, the most lucrative character is Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes, Chaplin, The Judge), but his own trilogy came to an end last year with the billion dollar success of Iron Man 3. His involvement will continue with The Avengers: Age of Ultron next year but he’s now opened up the possibility of Iron Man 4. Having previously denied it, Downey Jr has revealed to Ellen DeGeneres that early development is taking place. Should this project go through then I’d suspect that Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) will be directing.

Next today, a second character poster of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the last in the trilogy. This time it shows Gandalf in a spot of bother and Galadriel in full-on “all shall love me and despair” mode. The Battle of the Five Armies is directed by Peter Jackson (King Kong, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings) stars Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Richard Armitage (Thorin), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Luke Evans (Bard), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Aidan Turner (Kili), Lee Pace (Thranduil), Manu Bennett (Azog), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), James Nesbitt (Bofur), Ken Stott (Balin), Ian Holm (Old Bilbo), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug.

Lastly, we’ve got our hands on the very first pictures from Tomorrowland, a new sci-fi adventure set in a world described as the Hogwarts of science. Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) directs, Damon Lindelof (Prometheus, World War Z) writes while the film stars George Clooney (Gravity, The Descendants, Up in the Air, Ocean’s Eleven), Britt Robertson (Under the Dome), Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Hugh Laurie (House).

Tomorrowland – May 22nd 2015

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

Dad’s Army – 2015

Iron Man 4 – 2018?