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

Avengers 2 poster, Blomkamp directing new Alien and Boyhood, Kingsman, Interstellar and Imitation Game rule Empire Awards

Neill Blomkamp has been busy giving sci-fi and the South African film industry a good name with the Best Picture nominated District 9, the Matt Damon-starring Elysium and his new thriller Chappie but he was secretly developing ideas for a new Alien film. When the bold concept art was released it showcased a brilliant insight of the project he’d envisioned and the acclaim it received has sparked some level of interest. The Johannesburg-born filmmaker’s Alien instalment has been officially commissioned in addition to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sequel. Details such as a release date or cast are yet to be confirmed but we might see appearance from Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley (Maleficent, Powers) or a return for Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, The Cabin in the Woods) AKA Ripley.

Birdman, Boyhood, Still Alice and Whiplash took centre stage at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes in the past few months but the Empire Awards are set to amalgamate the mainstream and the arthouse in their public-voted awards. Previous winners include The Bourne Ultimatum, Men in Black Seven, Skyfall, Inception and Gravity. Click here for the voting while you can admire all of the nominees below.

Best Film:

The Imitation Game
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Boyhood

Best Director:

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Matt Reeves – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Christopher Nolan – Interstellar
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Actress:

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

Jameson Best Actor:

Andy Serkis – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Best British Film:

The Imitation Game
Paddington
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Under the Skin
The Theory of Everything

Best Thriller:

The Imitation Game
Gone Girl
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Locke

Best Comedy:

The Inbetweeners 2
Paddington
The Lego Movie
22 Jump Street
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Horror:

The Guest
Oculus
The Babadook
Annabelle
Under the Skin

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

Guardians of the Galaxy
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Interstellar

Best Female Newcomer:

Carrie Coon (Gone Girl)
Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Essie Davis (The Babadook)
Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service)
Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights, Jupiter Ascending)

Best Male Newcomer:

Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71, Starred Up)
Dan Stevens (The Guest, A Walk Among the Tombstones)
Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Testament of Youth)
Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)
Daniel Huttlestone (Into the Woods)

Here’s the leaderboard:

The Imitation Game – 6
Dawn of the Planet if the Apes, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Kingsman: The Secret Service – 4
Boyhood, Gone Girl, Interstellar, The Theory of Everything – 3
The Babadook, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Guest, Oculus, Paddington, Under the Skin, X-Men: Days of Future Past – 2

Finally today, we have the first major poster of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, tipped to be the biggest blockbuster of 2015. Joss Whedon (Serenity, Toy Story, The Cabin in the Woods) directs the cast of Robert Downey Jr (The Judge), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Jeremy Renner (American Hustle), Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Don Cheadle (Crash), James Spader (The Blacklist), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Aaron Taylor Johnson (Kick-Ass), Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting), Andy Serkis (The Hobbit) and Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind).

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – April 23rd

Alien 5 – 2017?

Weekend box-office – 7th to 13th of January 2015 – will Kingsman be a service to the UK?

Some of the UK’s most influential filmmakers of the past few years include Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, The Bourne Ultimatum) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trance) while James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything is flying our flag at the Oscars but today’s focus is on London born Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust, Layer Cake) who is releasing the Colin Firth-starring spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service this week. It’s a major departure from his more studio-oriented material of late so it’ll be interesting to see how it fares. Meanwhile last week, we predicted that (in the US) American Sniper would keep on top.

US:

1. American Sniper – Director: Clint Eastwood – $30.7 million
2. Project Almanac – Dean Israelite – $8.3 million
3. Paddington – Paul King – $8.3 million
4. Black or White – Mike Bender – $6.2 million
5. The Boy Next Door – Rob Cohen – $6.1 million

UK:

1. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – £4.3 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – £4.2 million
3. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – £1.6 million
4. The Theory of Everything – James Marsh – £1 million
5. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton – £0.8 million

Kingsman has arrived in second but it’s still a very respectable entry. Disney’s animated superhero adventure Big Hero 6 has beaten it to the post in a very tight competition. While it slipped up in the UK, American Sniper is still reigning in the US for the third week is a row, fending off rivals such as time-travel action Project Almanac and racial drama Black or White. This week I’ve scored 2/10.

US:

1. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis
2. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood
3. The Seventh Son – Sergei Bodrov
4. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Paul Tibbitt
5. Paddington – Paul King

UK:

1. The Interview – Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
2. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
4. Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis

Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller in American Sniper, this week’s US number one.

The character of Scott Adsit in Big Hero 6, this week’s UK number one.

Comic-Con 2014 – Round-Up – Avengers, Wonder Woman, Thrones, Godzilla and more!

Welcome all to the first big parts of news in our coverage of the 2014 San Diego Comic Con. You can check out yesterday’s various teaser poster reveals in the last post but it’s here that we begin the huge confirmations and castings that make this event so special. First off we ask you to recall an announcement made several months back about Spider-Man/Evil Dead director Sam Raimi announcing his intentions to produce a film adaptation of zombie action drama The Last of Us, widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time and certainly the most cinematic.

As soon as this story came out, fan speculation rose as to who would be portraying the two lead roles. There were a host of great suggestions for the grizzled Joel, ranging from Josh Brolin to Hugh Jackman, but casting the young icon Ellie was proving more difficult. Ellen Page was a popular option due to her uncanny resemblance to the character but  was probably around ten years above the ideal casting net. From Comic Con, it has now emerged that seventeen year old Brit Maisie Williams, best known as Game of Thrones’ Ayra Stark, has entered early negotiations for the lead of Ellie. Tell us in the comments of what you think of Williams taking on the role as well as who should/could be playing Joel or if a Last of Us movie is a good idea at all. 2017?

Legendary Pictures have released some fantastic films since their first back in 2005 with Batman Begins and have gone onto produce Man of Steel, 300, Godzilla, Watchmen, The Hangover and The Dark Knight trilogy. Their upcoming movies are gaining huge hype and the herds of fans were delighted by their presence at the panel were their various projects were introduced.

Earlier this month we named Christopher Nolan’s new space epic Interstellar as our most hyped movie of this year’s second half. So then you can imagine the immense reaction received when Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) lead a surprise panel for the film, accompanied by his leading man Matthew MacConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club, True Detective, Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street).

MacConaughey arrived first and described his first meeting with the modern legend. “I met with Christopher Nolan for three hours,” McConaughey said of joining the project, “and he didn’t say one word about the film, and I remember leaving thinking: ‘What the hell was that about?’ Anyway, he liked me and a week later the script arrived and I liked it and said, ‘I’m in.’

Nolan himself then graced the stage an shared some remarkable ambition for his project. “The single biggest influence for me was Kubrick’s 2001. I was able to go with my dad and see it in London on the big screen. We have the opportunity to tell a similarly ambitious story. That’s my ambition for the film, and I’m striving towards it.” Interstellar will star MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon and Michael Caine. November 7th

Warcraft, the third directorial feature from Duncan Jones (Source Code, Moon) and adaptation of the legendary online game, is up next and Jones was offering a teaser. In order to respect the fans attending, we can’t show you the footage but we can report what Jones had to say.

“It’ll be an origin story that addresses how war breaks out between orcs and humans on the world of Azeroth.” He also mentions that “The film will be accessible to a wider audience thus, opening the property up to moviegoers unfamiliar with the brand, similar to the approach on past fantasy series such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings.” Warcraft will star Ben Foster, Toby Kebbell, Paula Patton and Dominic Cooper and is out March 11th 2016.

Following this, our first two mega announcements have been made. The first is an all new confirmation of a project Legendary have done a fantastic job of keeping under wraps. According to MTV, the events transpired something like this:

“The short clip raced over a restless ocean, then through the foliage and rocks on a deserted island, before the giant gorilla was finally revealed from the shadows. “Being alone in the wilderness, it had gone mad,” a voiceover intoned. “It looked at you with a vengeful aspect.” The film will explore the fictional island that is the mythical home of King Kong. The title card for the film simply read “Skull Island.””

There’s still no word on directors, stars or plots but we can confirm a November 4th 2016 release.

Following the phenomenal success of both Monsters and Godzilla, Gareth Edwards is proving to be a greatly busy man having been recruited by Star Wars for the first of three spin offs from the franchise. However, fans are desperate for two more Godzilla 2 to become the second act of a monstrous trilogy. Edwards arrived at Legendary’s panel to confirm that he was directing the sequel as well as showing off an awesome teaser containing a trio of huge confirmations that may contain tiny spoilers for those who want the reveal to be saved for the film. According to MTV:

An old-school Monarch film clip was then shown — that’s the group that studies and keeps tabs on the monsters in the rebooted series — that confirmed the existence of…

Rodan!

Mothra!

King Ghidorah!

The Monarch analysis concluded that a battle is inevitable: “Let them fight.” Godzilla 2 – 2017?

Our second preview of a video game adaptation is the action thriller Agent 47, based on the gaming sensation Hitman. Rupert Friend, Zachary Quinto and Ciaran Hinds serve under debut director Aleksander Bach while Total Film has the scoop on how the very first trailer went down.

The trailer opens with a remixed version of ‘Voodoo Child’, with Friend’s antihero handcuffed to the table in an interrogation room. The back of his head (which is stubbly, as opposed to clean-shaven) bears the trademark barcode tattoo, albeit in a slightly redesigned form. Asked for his name, he answers, “47.” His interrogator retorts, “That’s not a name!” “No, but it is mine…”

The action kicks off when 47 shows off his Bourne-esque skills. Jumping up from his seat, he pulls his handcuff-chain into the line of fire of a rifle that’s been mounted on the table and pointed at him. All in slow-motion, naturally.

Also spotted in the trailer is 47 walking through a security gate metal detector, and drawing back his coat to reveal that he’s armed to the hilt with various guns, Matrix-style. A line of dialogue acts as the voiceover, intoning: “He’s an engineered human being: stronger, faster, more intelligent than normal people.”

There’s plenty of slo-mo gunplay, plus a helicopters blades smashing into the side of a skyscraper, as well as the impressive sight of 47’s car being pinned by several grappling wires, which the SWAT team then slide down. It all looked very slick and glossy, with the film’s Berlin and Budapest locations also shown off. March 20th 2015

We don’t usually dip into the world of television unless it’s for something truly huge and Game of Thrones truly fits that bill. We won’t explain the character’s role in the plot in fear of spoiling. Joining the stellar ensemble on the fifth season of the fantasy show are Alexander Siddig (Da Vinci’s Demons) as Doran Martell, Toby Sebastian (After the Dark) as Trystane Martell, Nell Tiger Free (Broken) as Myrcella Baratheon, Deobia Oparei (Dredd) as Areo Hotah, Enzo Cilenti (The Rum Diary) as Yezzan, Jessica Henwick (Silk) as Nymeria Sand, Keisha Castle Hughes (The Nativity Story) as Obara Sand and Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean) as the High Sparrow. We’d expect season 5 to also star Emilia Clarke (Terminator: Genesis), Kit Harington (Pompeii), Maisie Williams (The Last of Us), Peter Dinklage (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Lena Headey (300, Dredd). April 2015

The panel for Dreamworks Animation was one of the first to take place this weekend and, while they’ve got plenty of projects going for them, they put their main focus on Madagascar spin off Penguins. John Malkovich (RED, Being John Malkovich, Burn After Reading, Dangerous Liaisons) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness, Sherlock, War Horse, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) both featured in the panel and so, due to the latter’s presence, fans were requested to avoid all questions related to a certain detective although the Hall H attendees weren’t in a hurry to forget a Marvel rumour from earlier this year.

Clearly referring to Doctor Strange, Cumberbatch and co were asked which comic book character they’d like to play and they both had some fun with it. Malkovich confided “Lois Lane” while Cumberbatch teased “Nurse Normal. I’ll let the penny drop that’s a joke about Doctor Strange!” Returning to subject, the voice of Smaug had this to say about his new role, a smooth talking wolf spy named Classified. He claims he prepared for the role by “Working in Yellowstone park as a wolf for awhile. I was accepted by the pack quite quickly. It got a bit hairy, no pun intended, when I became the alpha male. Eventually I realized that two of the other wolves were Christian Bale and Daniel Day-Lewis.” December 5th

Most of the footage shown at Comic Con remains unseen to those who did not attend for several months in order to preserve the exclusives but we are rarely treated to the teasers immediately afterwards. Thankfully that’s exactly what happened with Mockingjay, the third instalment of The Hunger Games. The chilling first trailer is at last online and it’s given us plenty to discuss.

There’s no sign of a lot of key characters here (Peeta, Johanna, Haymitch, Finnick, Caesar, Effie, Prim, Beetee) but we do get glimpses of Julianne Moore as Alma Coin, Liam Hemsworth’s more militaristic Gale and Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final roles. I am Legend’s Francis Lawrence directs the cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Natalie Dormer, Jeffrey Wright, Willow Shields, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Donald Sutherland. November 21st

Proving that the young adult fantasy adaptations are no fad, action mystery The Maze Runner races into cinemas this autumn while it’s Comic Con panel unveiled the all new poster (above) and debut director Wes Ball hinted at the series’ future. “If the first film is a success, shooting on a sequel will begin in the northern fall this year.” The Maze Runner’s sequels are titled The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure and we might be able to expect them in time for 2016. The Maze Runner will star Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Kaya Scodelario (Moon) and Will Poulter (Wild Bill). October 10th

Another project we’re massively excited for is the comic book adaptation Kingsman: The Secret Service. It has long been known that Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Arkham City) has been set to make a cameo in the film, similarly to Mark Millar’s comic book, but at the panel he confirmed that his appearance may differ to the original one. In printed form, Hamill himself turns up but in the film he’ll play a character called James Arnold. He’ll have the same effect on the plot. The Secret Service is directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake, Kick-Ass) and will star Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Samuel L Jackson and Michael Caine. October 17th

The long awaited sequel to crime classic Sin City, titled A Dame to Kill For, is mere weeks away from release and, while the main attention was on this second instalment, one or two minds were beginning to consider a third. When asked, director Frank Miller explained “Robert (Rodriguez) and I are already talking about Sin City 3. So you’d better show up for number two or they won’t pay for it.” Sin City 2 will star Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson and Josh Brolin and is released August 25th.

Warner Bros was of the biggest studios to host a panel, in which they introduced four new projects. The first of which was new from the continuation of the DC universe kickstarted last year with Man of Steel. Director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) returns for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice which has at last given its very first look at the all new Wonder Woman, played by Fast and Furious’ Gal Gadot.

In other news for the franchise, Dawn of Justice writer Chris Terrio (Argo) is set to return for 2017’s Justice League however we are yet to receive the Shazam announcement that Dwayne Johnson had teased. A short clip of footage, reportedly of Superman spying a glowing-eyed Batman dusting off the Bat-signal, was briefly leaked but torn down by Warner Bros although this much finished work is a promising sign. Dawn of Justice will star Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Holly Hunter, Scoot McNairy, Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Jeremy Irons. April 29th 2016

It’s fair to say that we’ve had our doubts about whether director George Miller and star Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) could pull off Mad Max sequel Fury Road but the awesome first trailer could quench any worries. It seems to be promising one long action set piece, similarly to Dredd, which may be greatly difficult to pull off but we’d love to see what they make of it. Fury Road will star Tom Hardy, Nicholas Hoult and Charlize Theron. May 15th 2015

For the finale to Warner’s presentation, the ensemble cast of The Hobbit’s concluding chapter The Battle of the Five Armies descended upon Comic Con and were granted the chance to share their incredible experiences of bringing Middle Earth to life one final time. “It was a very, very strange experience, ten years on, going back into, to Miramar, to the studios. And it was like nothing had changed,” said Oscar winner Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), who plays Elven queen Galadriel.

“Peter and Fran and Philippa and all of the guys at WETA had made these extraordinarily successful – financially and creatively successful films – but their filmmaking practice hadn’t changed at all. You still felt like you were making an independent film that was ridiculously well-resourced.” Next up was the infamous archer Legolas, portrayed on screen by Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean). “I feel weird. We were just talking today. Peter’s youngest has just turned 18. She was 3 when I arrived in New Zealand, you know. Which is nuts, right? I was 21,

“It’s sad to say goodbye in many, many ways. I felt very lucky to do it actually. I felt like I got a chance to create a backstory for a character that goes into ‘Lord of the Rings.’ And I think this movie will tie up beautifully all of the characters’ stories into a nice little bow so that you’ll be able to go straight in and watch ‘Lord of the Rings.’ You’ll be able to do the whole thing at some point.”

Peter Jackson directs the cast of Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Lawrence Makoare, Manu Bennett, Sylvester McCoy, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving.

Finally we get to the big one that we’ve all been waiting for. The Marvel panel stole the show last year with a guest appearance by Loki himself and so they were always going to struggle topping that this year. Our calender of confirmed Marvel projects doesn’t stretch beyond 2016’s Doctor Strange and so we’re hoping that Kevin Feige and co would at last fill in the seven dates with empty spaces for titles. Sadly, we only got one of these seven but I think the simple answer as to why would be that Marvel themselves don’t quite know yet. Also, there’s no official title so far for Captain America 3 there’s still plenty of excitement in store.

It’ll have been almost four years since her on screen debut but Agent Carter (played by Hayley Atwell) at last has her own TV show, set after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. We sincerely want Dominic Cooper and Toby Jones to reprise their roles of Howard Stark and Arnim Zola respectively for the series but Marvel are going ahead with appointing directors. We knew that Lou D’Esposito, mastermind of many a One Shot short film, would direct the pilot however the MCU’s feature film directors are being recruited. The Winter Soldier’s Anthony and Joe Russo are set for episodes two and three while The First Avenger’s Joe Johnston will tackle ep 4, adding a flavour of the cinematic universe to the show. January 2015

Marvel’s first crack at a huge live action TV series tied into their films was unveiled almost a year ago in the form of Agents of SHIELD. Some found it greatly disappointed but, while there are undeniable issues, MAOS has picked up a strong following – thanks to the shocking twists, betrayals and bumping offs the second half of the series – and season two has got the go ahead. In a panel introduced via video by Patton Oswalt (Eric Koenig), a host of new characters and stars were introduced to pose intriguing predicaments for our Agents.

Lucy Lawless, best known as Xena: Warrior Princess, will play the original character of Isabelle Hartley, a veteran SHIELD agent. Lance Hunter, head of SHIELD’s British counterpart STRIKE (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies) will be portrayed by Nick Blood (The Bletchley Circle). The uber villainous HYDRA recruiter Daniel Whitehall/The Kraken is under the acting expertise of Whedonite Reed Diamond (Much Ado About Nothing, Moneyball) and finally superhero Bobbi Morse (aka Mockingbird) has been confirmed to be a part of the show but there’s yet to be any word on a star. We’d expect Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Elizabeth Henstridge, Iain De Caestecker, Chloe Bennett, BJ Britt and Patton Oswalt while we may expect surprise returns for Ron Glass, Cobie Smulders, Adrian Pasdar, Ruth Negga, David Conrad and J August Richards. This Autumn

Until the shocking departure of Edgar Wright, three main stars and composer Steven Price, Ant-Man was shaping out to be a hugely awesome prospect and the last minute appointment of Peyton Reed may not save an unrecoverable set back for Marvel but the greatly positive reaction to the footage shown is an exciting sign. The main commotion was the announcement of supporting roles. The Hobbit’s Evangeline Lilly will not play Janet Van Dyne as expected but will in fact be Hank Pym’s daughter Hope who we can assume will soon inherit the role of Wasp. House of Cards star Corey Stoll has revealed that he plays Pym’s protoge Darren Cross who attempts to succeed Pym’s company and becomes the villain Yellowjacket. Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena and Michael Douglas. July 17th 2015

Now we get back to those seven unannounced projects landing from 2017 to 2019. Marvel will take to space this weekend with the stellar release of Guardians of the Galaxy and it was boldly announced that a sequel would arrive in July 2017. James Gunn (Slither) is already confirmed to be returning while we can expect writer Nicole Perlman and stars Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Josh Brolin to reprise their roles as Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Drax and Thanos. Supporting stars such as John C Reilly, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker and Glenn Close may also return depending on where Guardians leaves us. July 28th 2017

Director Scott Derickson’s (Deliver Us From Evil, Sinister) extensive search for a casting for Marvel’s Doctor Strange has conjured greatly varied suggestions for who should play the Sorcerer Supreme. Wild accusations of Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Adrien Brody came up, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy and Benedict Cumberbatch were the focus of a shortlist rumour, fans begged for the likes of Jon Hamm and Joel Edgerton while there was a persistent claim that it would be Andy Serkis. However, the search may have ended with the report that Joaquin Phoenix has entered negotiations.

Phoenix is of coarse the three time Oscar nominated star of The Master, Her and Gladiator although the experience of a lead blockbuster action role may be new to him. We’re gonna go ahead and say that we reckon he can pull it off but we want to here what you think of the casting in the comments. July 8th 2016

Finally today we’ve got the biggest possible poster imaginable for mega-sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel are keeping their cards close to their chests this time around but it’s reported that the footage shown unveiled a non-motion capture Andy Serkis.

Joss Whedon (Serenity, Firefly, Toy Story, Buffy) directs the cast of Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, James Spader, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Thomas Kretschmann, Hayley Atwell, Don Cheadle, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L Jackson.

That’s all for our Comic Con coverage this year and thanks for seeing it out, we know it took a while to publish. Please tell us in the comments who your’re most impressed by: Mad Max, Avengers 2, Dawn of Justice, Godzilla 2, Skull Island, Warcraft, Interstellar or Hobbit 3? Here’s to Comic Con 2015. Bye for now!

The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Mark Ruffalo talks potential new Hulk film and Colin Firth departs from Paddington

Despite only having one performance and one cameo in the role, Mark Ruffalo’s (Now You See Me, The Kids Are All Right, Zodiac, Foxcatcher, Shutter Island) portrayal of Bruce Banner/Hulk is one of the most loved in the whole of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and yet looking into the future he’s only signed up for Avengers: Age of Ultron. There’s nothing official yet but there have been talks of Hulk solo film, a concept that’s failed twice before. Oscar nominee Ruffalo has himself now spoken out on the possibility of the film. “I think they are, for the first time, entertaining the idea of it,” Ruffalo told Digital Spy.

“When we did The Avengers it was basically ‘No!’, and now there is some consideration for it. But there’s still nothing definitive, not even a skeletal version of what it would be. I look forward to going down that road, if we could crack that nut.” I’m unsure if Hulk by himself would work third time round but I’d love a two-man Avengers team-up of Banner and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor (whose third instalments isn’t going too far in development). Or, depending on where A2:AoU leaves us, perhaps Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) will be still be kicking around. As for directors who can make great beasts full of character, we’d tip Monsters/Godzilla man Gareth Edwards were he not busy on Godzilla 2 and a Star Wars spin off.

Paddington, a Peruvian bear who travels to London in order to find a family, has, over the years, become a British icon and in the UK there has been a fair amount of hype for the new reboot, brought to us by Harry Potter producer David Heyman and Bunny and the Bull director Paul King. It’s gathered the ensemble supporting cast of Hugh Bonneville (The Monuments Men, Downton Abbey), Nicole Kidman (The Hours, Moulin Rouge), Jim Broadbent (Iris, Cloud Atlas), Julie Walters (Billy Elliot, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids, Alice in Wonderland), Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine, Godzilla) and Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who, World War Z, The Thick of It) before making the huge casting of Oscar winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man, Love Actually) as Paddington himself,

It’s now reported that Firth has made a late withdrawal from the film. “It’s been bittersweet to see this delightful creature take shape and come to the sad realisation that he simply doesn’t have my voice,” Firth explains, “After a period of denial we’ve chosen conscious uncoupling. I’ve had the joy of seeing most of the film and it’s going to be quite wonderful. I still feel rather protective of this bear and I’m pestering them all with suggestions for finding a voice worthy of him.”

Paddington – November 28th 2014

The Hulk – 2017?

Spielberg appoints the Coens for new thriller, trailer for Woody Allen’s latest and find out the title of Man of Steel 2

With American Sniper now in the hands of Clint Eastwood and Robopocalypse completely dropping off the radar, Oscar winner Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, AI, Minority Report, Jaws, Catch Me if You Can, Lincoln, War Horse, Munich, Amistad, The Terminal, Raiders of the Lost, Ark, Empire of the Sun, The Colour Purple, The Last Crusade, The Temple of Doom, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Schindler’s List) seemed to confirm his next project as an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s BFG. As well as this though he’s developing a new Cold War thriller with Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips, Road to Perdition, Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, Cloud Atlas) which took a major leap today with the appointment of some of the finest writers around. The Coen Brothers (True Grit, Inside Llewyn Davis, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) have been hired to scribe the film.

We’ve also delighted today to unveil the first trailer for Woody Allen’s latest work, a bizarre new comedy called Magic in the Moonlight. The man behind Annie Hall, Blue Jasmine and Manhattan directs the stellar cast of Colin Firth (The Kings’ Speech), Emma Stone (The Help) and Jackie Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).

We’ve been after the official title of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel follow up for nearly a year and it’s finally been revealed. So everybody get ready for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, Tao Okamoto and Jeremy Irons.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – April 29th 2016

Untitled Spielberg Cold War Thriller – 2017?

Magic in the Moonlight – September 19th

Brand new set pic from Batman vs Superman and new poster for Secret Service

There’s little to do today other than to unveil a couple of very exciting new pics. First off, we’ve got our hands on the first poster for Matthew Vaughn’s (Kick Ass, Layer Cake, Stardust, X-Men: First Class) new action thriller, formerly known as The Secret Service. The film has now been updated with a new extended title (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and teaser poster for your entertainment. It’ll star Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man), Samuel L Jackson (The Avengers, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained), Taron Egerton (The Smoke), Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, Zero Dark Thirty) and Michael Caine (The Dark Knight, The Italian Job, Alfie).

As well as this, we’ve got a fresh on-set pic from Zack Snyder’s (Watchmen, 300, Man of Steel) DC mash up Batman vs. Superman, starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Callan Mulvey, Holly Hunter, Ray Fisher, Tao Okamoto and Laurence Fishburne. This still seems to be hinting at The Joker but I doubt that he’d return so soon after Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning, and sadly posthumous, performance in the role in 2008’s The Dark Knight. We’ll let you make your own mind up.

Batman vs. Superman – April 29th 2016

Kingsman: The Secret Service – October 17th

Assassin Creed and Fantastic Four releases announced, Temple Run film confirmed and new Maleficent trailer and poster

2015 is going to be one huge year for movies. Finding Dory, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Independence Day 2 and Star Trek 3 have had to pull out to 2016. Batman vs. Superman (17th July), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1st), Star Wars: Episode VII (December 18th), Ant-Man (July 31st), Chappie (March 27th), Jurassic World (June 12th), Warcraft (December 18th), The Good Dinosaur (November 15th), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (November 20th), Cinderella (March 13th) and, potentially, Terminator (July 1st), Legend of Conan and Bond 24 (October 23rd). The Hobbit, Angry Birds, Avatar and The Amazing Spiderman will be glad that their just skimming over, or under, it.

Fox have shuffled their 2015 releases quite a bit too. In a domino effect, Matthew Vaughn’s Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson starring thriller The Secret Service has gone into the place previously held by Josh Trank’s The Fantastic Four, March 6th. The latter now will be going head to head with Pixar’s Inside Out on June 19th. That used to belong to the Michael Fassbender starring video game adaptation Assassin’s Creed has rolled into August 7th seeing as it’s yet to find a director. Fox also moved comedy Susan Cooper, directed by Paul Feig and starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham and Rose Byrne, to May 22nd, putting it up against Brad Bird/George Clooney sci-fi adventure Tomorrowland.

So many mobile apps have been huge successes; Jetpack Joyride, The Impossible Game and Fruit Ninja are the stuff of legend. Angry Birds is scheduled for a 2016 release and, besides that, it’s hard to think of a film or franchise inspired by the Appstore antics of a mobile game. Warner Bros, however, reckon that they can make the box office goods with an adaptation of Temple Run.

The game sees your everyday adventurer nicking an idol from an Incan temple and he must escape along a precarious pathway from three vengeful demon monkeys. The sequel, cleverly entitled Temple Run 2, evolved into something more oriental with rivers and mines being introduced. It also spawned the film themed spin-offs Temple Run: Brave (you play as Princess Merida in a more dark foresty mood) and Temple Run: Oz (a tie in of the fantasy prequel Oz: The Great and Powerful). If the you think the production sounds like a novelty one, take in mind that David Heyman, producer of Harry Potter, Gravity and I am Legend, is linked to this one.

Finally, a full trailer for the new Angelina Jolie epic Maleficent is online. The film’s plot boils down to a very different retelling of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. In this reincarnation, the tale is more centred around it’s truly menacing villain. Maleficent concocts an evil plan to trap the young Aurora (Elle Fanning). This is Robert Stromberg’s directorial debut but he worked on the visual effects of Life of Pi, The Hunger Games, Pan’s Labyrinth and Pirates of Caribbean. It also stars Sharlto Copley, Peter Capaldi, Juno Temple, Imelda Staunton, Mirand Richardson, Lesley Manville and Sam Riley. Here’s the new poster:

Assassin Creed – August 7th 2015

The Secret Service – March 6th 2015

The Fantastic Four – June 19th 2015

Susan Cooper – May 22nd 2015

Temple Run – 2016?

Maleficent – May 30th 2014