Oscars 2016 first predictions: Spielberg! Tarantino! Del Toro! Stone! Boyle! Star Wars! Bond! Pixar! Mad Max!

There’s a good seven or so months until the Oscars really kick off but even now we might be able to make a few early predictions for some of the big hitters. This list will be rapidly changing over the coming months depending on the reception of some of these films. Gus Van Sant/Matthew MacConaughey drama The Sea of Trees seemed like a viable candidate until its Cannes flop. In some cases, we’re basing the predictions off their critical reception, festival buzz and hype and in other cases the popularity of a filmmaker involved. We’re ranking the selections in order of likelihood.

Best Picture:

40) The Good Dinosaur

Director: Peter Sohn (Partly Cloudy)
Starring: Anna Paquin (True Blood), Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club), Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading)
Premise: An epic journey into the world of dinosaurs where an Apatosaurus named Arlo makes an unlikely human friend.
Odds: Pixar’s second effort of the year may get overshadowed by their first but the studio’s good form might transfer into this look at an alternate history.

39) Creed

Director: Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station)
Starring: Michael B Jordan (Chronicle), Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), Sylvester Stallone (First Blood)
Premise: The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Creed, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.
Odds: The Rocky franchise had seriously drifted after the Best Picture winning original but, by shifting Stallone into and supporting role and bringing new hero Adonis Creed to the foreground, we might have a contender.

38) Secret in Their Eyes

Director: Billy Ray (Breach)
Starring: Julia Roberts (Erin Brockivich), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
Premise: A tight-knit team of FBI investigators, along with their District Attorney supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.
Odds: The Argentinian adaptation of the same book won an Oscar for Foreign Language in 2009 but this might turn ought to be another unpopular remake.

37) By the Sea

Director: Angelina Jolie (Unbroken)
Starring: Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melanie Laurent (Beginners)
Premise: Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
Odds: Jolie hasn’t yet cemented her position as an accomplished director but last year’s Unbroken got three Oscar nods meaning that By the Sea might follow suit.

36) Trumbo

Director: Jay Roach (Meet the Parents)
Starring: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Helen Mirren (The Queen), John Goodman (Argo)
Premise: The successful career of Hollywood screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, comes to an end when he is blacklisted in the 1940s for being a Communist.
Odds: The Oscars have a track record of stories about Hollywood and redemption and Bryan Cranston should shine in the role but communist sympathies might not sit too well with the Academy.

35) Spectre

Director: Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition)
Starring: Daniel Craig (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Premise: A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre.
Odds: Prior to 2012’s Skyfall, Bond hadn’t had a Oscar win in nearly 50 years. If Spectre is an improvement, than the series may be on the way to a first ever Best Picture nomination.

34) Legend

Director: Brian Helgeland (42)
Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind)
Premise: The film tells the story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray, two of the most notorious criminals in British history, and their organised crime empire in the East End of London during the 1960s.
Odds: The main Oscar buzz about the film surrounds Tom Hardy’s performance(s) but the crime biopic might be a dark horse in the contest.

33) The Martian

Director: Ridley Scott (Blade Runner)
Starring: Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Premise: During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
Odds: After back to back success with Gladiator and Black Hawk Down followed by the snubbing of American Gangster, acclaimed director Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic The Martian may have the goods to put him back on top.

32) Beasts of No Nation

Director: Cary Fukanga (True Detective)
Starring: Abraham Attah (Out of the Village), Ama K Abebrese (The Cursed Ones), Idris Elba (Pacific Rim)
Premise: A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Odds: The Academy may take a big step by nominating a Netflix original production for the first time

31) Everest

Director: Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaald (Nightcrawler), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty)
Premise: A climbing expedition on Mt. Everest is devastated by a severe snow storm.
Odds: A traditional disaster flick will hopefully be elevated by the fantastic ensemble.

30) Concussion

Director: Peter Landesman (Parkland)
Starring: Will Smith (Ali), Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle), Alec Baldwin (The Hunt For Red October)
Premise: The story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in professional football players.
Odds: It’s been years since Smith’s last major critical success but the more serious tone surrounding this true life thriller may lead it Oscar bound.

29) The Walk

Director: Robert Zemeckis (Cast Away)
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper), Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island), Charlotte Le Bon (Mood Indigo)
Premise: The story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s attempt to cross the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
Odds: The fact that the same story was turned into an Oscar winning documentary (Man on Wire) several years ago proves that the premise is more Academy friendly than blockbuster cool but the fact that the story has been visited successfully before may also hinder it.

28) Freeheld

Director: Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist)
Starring: Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), Ellen Page (Juno)
Premise: New Jersey police lieutenant, Laurel Hester, and her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, both battle to secure Hester’s pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Odds: Moore is on fine form after her win for Still Alice but there hasn’t yet been a remarkable amount of Oscar buzz surrounding it.

27) 45 Years

Director: Andrew Haigh (Weekend)
Starring: Charlotte Rampling (Melancholia), Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago), Geraldine James (Gandhi)
Premise: In the week leading up to their 45th wedding anniversary, a couple receive an unexpected letter which contains potentially life changing news.
Odds: The low key British drama might prove to be a contender but given the recent snubbing of Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner, the Academy may have turned away from that genre the larger scale Brit flicks such as The Imitation Game

26) The Danish Girl

Director: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Starring: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair), Ben Whishaw (Skyfall)
Premise: The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Odds: The Danish Girl has all the makings of a Best Picture winner – lavish period setting, Oscar friendly cast and director – but it’ll have to overcome its so far mixed-negative reception.

25) Straight Outta Compton

Director: F Gary Gray (Friday)
Starring: Jason Mitchell (Contraband), Corey Hawkins (Non-Stop), Paul Giamatti (Sideways)
Premise: The group NWA emerges from the mean streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California, in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
Odds: Sharing its name with the rap sensation, this unlikely candidate surprised critics and was a smash hit with audiences but that won’t necessarily translate into Oscar success for the musical biopic.

24) Macbeth

Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown)
Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Marion Cotillard (Inception), Paddy Considine (Dead Man’s Shoes)
Premise: Macbeth, a duke of Scotland, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Odds: Kurzel might not be experienced with this scale of filmmaking but injecting a flavour of war epic to Shakespeare’s classic should shake things up, not to mention the roles Fassbender and Cotillard were born to play.

23) The Program

Director: Stephen Frears (The Queen)
Starring: Chris O’Dowd (Calvary), Ben Foster (Lone Survivor), Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man)
Premise: An Irish sports journalist becomes convinced that Lance Armstrong’s performances during the Tour de France victories are fueled by banned substances. With this conviction, he starts hunting for evidence that will expose Armstrong.
Odds: The events depicted might be considered too recent to have a major effect on voters and O’Dowd (while talented) hasn’t yet reached Oscar appeal but Frears’ impressive back catalogue should accelerate hype.

22) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Director: Alfonso Gomez Rejon (The Town that Dreaded Sundown)
Starring: Thomas Mann (Project X), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel), Nick Offerman (The Kings of Summer)
Premise: High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.
Odds: The Fault in Our Stars for the Kings of Summer audience. This charming romance with undoubtedly win the hearts of fans and critics but it might be too low key for the Academy.

21) Snowden

Director: Oliver Stone (JFK)
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt (Inception), Nicolas Cage (Face/Off), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
Premise: CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.
Odds: Snowden’s story was told recently in the Oscar winning documentary Citizenfour meaning the source material has awards-friendly buzz but all of Oliver Stone’s recent work (Alexander, Money Never Sleeps, Savages) has been a let down. However, anti-American undertones didn’t do Zero Dark Thirty any harm.

20) Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Director: JJ Abrams (Stark Trek Into Darkness)
Starring: John Boyega (Attack the Block), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Premise: New heroes must fight the rising threat of the New Order.
Odds: While the reboot of a franchise that hasn’t been good since 1983 may make the Oscars treat The Force Awakens as Bantha fodder, it seems to possess the game changing level of effects that brought Avatar to success and made the original Star Wars a Best Picture nominee.

19) Hail Caesar

Directors: Joel and Ethan Cohen (The Big Lebowski)
Starring: Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), George Clooney (Gravity), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Premise: A Hollywood fixer in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s stars in line.
Odds: With four Oscar wins, the Coens are probably the most acclaimed screenwriters of our time but Inside Llewyn Davis’ snubbing might mean trouble for the pair’s more quirky efforts.

18) Silence

Director: Martin Scorsese (The Aviator)
Starring: Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Tadanobu Asano (Thor). Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List)
Premise: In the seventeenth century, two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity.
Odds: Silence seems Oscar bound but production delays and rumours that it’ll debut in Cannes 2016 suggest that the film might not be in competition until the 2017 Oscars.

17) The End of the Tour

Director: James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now)
Starring: Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Anna Chlumsky (In the Loop), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Premise: A magazine reporter recounts his travels and conversations with author David Foster Wallace during a promotional book tour.
Odds: The new Almost Famous? Segel and Eisenberg’s pairing will undoubtedly pick up a cult following but might be a bit abrasive for the Oscar crowd.

16) In the Heart of the Sea

Director: Ron Howard (Apollo 13)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges)
Premise: Based on the 1820 event, a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home.
Odds: Ron Howard has experienced mass success with the disaster thriller genre but the merciless snub of his brilliant racing drama Rush hints at an anti-Howard agenda.

15) Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller (The Road Warrior)
Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Charlize Theron (Monster), Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies)
Premise: In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland.
Odds: This bold action sequel received rave reviews but the fact that its plot can be sketched out on a napkin might put off some of the more traditional Academy voters.

14) Joy

Director: David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Robert De Niro (Casino)
Premise: The story of a family across four generations and the woman who rises to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.
Odds: Russell has a surprising three consecutive Best Picture nominees but the flop of his abandoned rom-com Accidental Love earlier this years prevents Joy from being his fourth.

13) Brooklyn

Director: John Crowley (Is Anybody There)
Starring: Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Julie Walters (Billy Elliot)
Premise: In 1950s Ireland and New York, young Ellis Lacey has to choose between two men and two countries.
Odds: This star studded effort could be a major contender so long as it avoids the pitfalls of a procedural romantic drama (IE Anna Karenina).

12) The Lobster

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth)
Starring: Colin Farrell (In Bruges), John C Reilly (Chicago), Rachel Weisz (Enemy at the Gates)
Premise: In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods.
Odds: Merging comedy, romance and sci-fi with a bonkers concept from a Greek director making his English language debut. The Gilliam-esque level of weirdness will attract a lot of attention but may also backfire.

11) Youth

Director: Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty)
Starring: Michael Caine (The Dark Knight), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
Premise: Fred and Mick, two old friends, are on vacation in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps. While Mick scrambles to finish the screenplay for what he imagines will be his last important film, Fred has no intention of resuming his musical career. But someone wants at all costs to hear him conduct again.
Odds: Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty picked up a triple with Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globes in the Foreign Language category so Youth should continue form but Sorrentino’s only other English language feature, This Must Be the Place, was one of his weakest.

10) Suffragette

Director: Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane)
Starring: Carey Mulligan (Drive), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd)
Premise: The foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal state.
Odds: The all-female writing directing team may face the snubs that Ava DuVernay suffered with Selma last year but the feminist story may tie into the Academy’s own changing times.

9) Black Mass

Director: Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart)
Starring: Johnny Depp (Public Enemies), Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Premise: The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf.
Odds: A dark and intense modern gangster thriller akin to The Departed and Donnie Brasco. Hopefully, Pirates star Johnny Depp will prove his worth for the first time in years. The massively positive early response is greatly promising.

8) Crimson Peak

Director: Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Starring: Mia Wasikowska (Stoker), Tom Hiddleston (War Horse), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Premise: In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers.
Odds: A lavish Gothic mood will elevate Crimson Peak from repetitive formulaic horror (The Conjuring, Insidious, Sinister, Annabelle) or even hits like the Carpenter-esque It Follows and indie smash The Babadook. Del Toro might exceed Pan’s Labyrinth’s three Oscar wins while busting the myth that horrors are Oscar immune (see Jaws, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Aliens, The Silence of the Lambs).

7) The Hateful Eight

Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
Starring: Samuel L Jackson (Jurassic Park), Kurt Russell (The Thing), Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Premise: In post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunters try to find shelter during a blizzard but get involved in a plot of betrayal and deception. Will they survive?
Odds: Tarantino’s three Best Picture nominations may well be added to with this Western thriller. It’d be unlikely for this not to be an seventh consecutive hit for the filmmaker.

6) Carol

Director: Todd Haynes (I’m Not There)
Starring: Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Kyle Chandler (Super 8)
Premise: Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Odds: Carol has been the bookies’ favourite from the start but more recently more praise has gone towards its stars than the film itself.

5) Sicario

Director: Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners)
Starring: Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow), Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men)
Premise: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Odds: American Sniper, Argo, Captain Phillips, District 9, Gravity, The Hurt Locker, Inception and Zero Dark Thirty have redefined the Oscar’s favour for the action thriller genre.

4) Inside Out

Directors: Pete Docter (Up), Ronaldo Del Carmen
Starring: Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Bill Hader (Trainwreck), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks)
Premise: After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.
Odds: The animation has gained the best reception of any of Pixar’s work since 2010’s Toy Story 3 but it has been five years since the studio has had a major nomination besides Animated Feature.

3) Bridge of Spies

Director: Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List)
Starring: Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Amy Ryan (Birdman), Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall)
Premise: An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.
Odds: Spielberg’s career has had nine Best Picture films (including Jaws, The Colour Purple, Saving Private Ryan, War Horse and Lincoln) and 118 Oscar nods are most likely to be added to but the acclaimed director isn’t immune to snubs (Catch Me if You Can, Jurassic Park). Also, Hanks hasn’t had an Oscar nod since 2001’s Cast Away and even his career best in Captain Phillips didn’t sway the Academy.

2) The Revenant

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)
Starring: Leonardo Di Caprio (Inception), Domhnall Gleeson (About Time), Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises)
Premise: The frontiersman, Hugh Glass, who in the 1820s set out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.
Odds: Considering the grueling shoot and huge budget, the civil-war era epic could be the new Dances With Wolves (multi-Oscar winner with Kevin Costner) or the new Heaven’s Gate (world renowned flop with Jeff Bridges). Either way, the footage is incredible.

1) Steve Jobs

Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Kate Winslet (Titanic)
Premise: The true story of the life of visionary Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Odds: While it suffered major development issues – loss of cast members (Christian Bale, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Leonardo Di Caprio, Ben Affleck, Tom Cruise, Matthew MacConaughey, Charlize Theronl, Jessica Chastain, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman) and director David Fincher – we reckon Steve Jobs is your next Best Picture winner.

Here’s a quickfire of the directors and stars we reckon will make the cut.

Best Director:

1. Steven Spielberg – Bridge of Spies
2. Denis Villeneuve – Sicario
3. Danny Boyle – Steve Jobs
4. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – The Revenant
5. George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
6. Oliver Stone – Snowden
7. Guillermo Del Toro – Crimson Peak
8. JJ Abrams – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
9. Scott Cooper – Black Mass
10. F Gary Gray – Straight Outta Compton
11. Paolo Sorrentino – Youth
12. Ron Howard – In the Heart of the Sea
13. Sarah Gavron – Suffragette
14. David O. Russell – Joy
15. Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight

Best Actor:

1. Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs – Steve Jobs
2. Michael Caine – Fred Ballinger – Youth
3. Leonardo Di Caprio – Hugh Glass – The Revenant
4. Johnny Depp – Whitey Bulger – Black Mass
5. Tom Hanks – James Donovan – Bridge of Spies
6. Jason Segel – David Foster Wallace – The End of the Tour
7. Bryan Cranston – Dalton Trumbo – Trumbo
8. Eddie Redmayne – Lili Elbe – The Danish Girl
9. Ian McKellen – Sherlock Holmes – Mr Holmes
10. Jake Gyllenhaal – Billy Hope – Southpaw
11. Tom Hardy – Ronald/Reginald Kray – Legend
12. Joseph Gordon Levitt – Edward Snowden – Snowden
13. Colin Farrell – David – The Lobster
14. Tom Hardy – “Mad” Max Rockatansky – Mad Max: Fury Road
15. Tom Hiddleston – Hank Williams – I Saw the Light

Best Actress:

1. Rooney Mara – Therese Belivet – Carol
2. Marion Cotillard – Lady Macbeth – Macbeth
3. Alicia Vikander – Gerda Wegener – The Danish Girl
4. Emily Blunt – Kate Macer – Sicario
5. Jennifer Lawrence – Joy Mangano – Joy
6. Cate Blanchett – Carol Aird – Carol
7. Charlotte Rampling – Kate Mercer – 45 Years
8. Saoirse Ronan – Ellis Lacey – Brooklyn
9. Juliette Binoche – Maria Enders – Clouds of Sils Maria
10. Carey Mulligan – Maud – Suffragette
11. Mia Wasikowska – Edith Cushing – Crimson Peak
12. Charlize Theron – Imperator Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road
13. Julianne Moore – Laurel Hester – Freeheld
14. Angelina Jolie – Vanessa – By the Sea
15. Amy Schumer – Amy – Trainwreck

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Seth Rogen – Steve Wozniak – Steve Jobs
2. Harvey Keitel – Mick Boyle – Youth
3. Benedict Cumberbatch – Bill Bulger – Black Mass
4. Benicio Del Toro – Alejandro – Sicario
5. Mark Rylance – Rudolf Abel – Bridge of Spes
6. Jesse Eisenberg – David Lipsky – The End of the Tour
7. Robert De Niro – Rudy Mangano – Joy
8. Christoph Waltz – Hans Oberhauser – Spectre
9. Samuel L Jackson – Marquis Warren – The Hateful Eight
10. Tom Hardy – John Fitzgerald – The Revenant
11. Chris O’Dowd – David Walsh – The Program
12. Josh Brolin – Matt – Sicario
13. Tom Hiddelston – Thomas Sharpe – Crimson Peak
14. Will Poulter – Jim Bridger – The Revenant
15. Harrison Ford – Han Solo – Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Rachel Weisz – Lena Ballinger – Youth
2. Kate Winslet – Joanna Hoffman – Steve Jobs
3. Shailene Woodley – Lindsay Mills – Snowden
4. Amy Ryan – Mary Donovan – Bridge of Spies
5. Ellen Page – Stacie Andree – Freeheld
6. Jessica Chastain – Lucille Sharpe – Crimson Peak
7. Jane Fonda – Brenda Morel – Youth
8. Kristen Stewart – Valentine – Clouds of Sils Maria
9. Julie Walters – Mrs Kehoe – Brooklyn
10. Melissa Leo – Laura Poitras – Snowden
11. Rachel McAdams – Maureen Hope – Southpaw
12. Helen Mirren – Hedda Hooper – Trumbo
13. Anna Chlumsky – Sarah – The End of the Tour
14. Helena Bonham Carter – Edith New – Suffragette
15. Jennifer Jason Leigh – Daisy Domergue – The Hateful Eight

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Youth – Paolo Sorrentino
2. The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino
3. Inside Out – Pete Docter, Ronald Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley
4. Bridge of Spies – Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen, Matt Charman
5. Ex Machina – Alex Garland
6. Joy – David O. Russell, Annie Mumulo
7. Sicario – Taylor Sheridan
8. Hail Caesar – Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen
9. Demolition – Bryan Sipe
10. The Good Dinosaur – Enrico Casarosa, Bob Peterson
11. Suffragette – Abi Morgan
12. Trainwreck – Amy Schumer
13. Southpaw – Kurt Sutter
14. Crimson Peak – Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins
15. Irrational Man – Woody Allen

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
2. Carol – Phyllis Nagy
3. The End of the Tour – Donald Marguiles
4. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – Jesse Andrews
5. The Revenant – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Mark L Smith
6. Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
7. Silence – Jay Cocks
8. Snowden – Oliver Stone, Kieran Fitzgerald
9. Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
10. The Danish Girl – Lucina Coven
11. Spectre – John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade
12. Macbeth – Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso
13. Black Mass – Scott Cooper, Mark Mallouk
14. The Martian – Drew Goddard
15. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan

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.

Jenkins is Wonder Woman director, Gosling in Blade Runner and Cannes lineup revealed: Woody Allen! Pixar! Mad Max?

Warner Bros suffered a major setback on their highly anticipated fantasy reboot of the DC hero Winder Woman. Director Michelle MacLaren, behind some of the best episodes of Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, pulled out of the film leaving a gap to fill but the replacement has been announced as Patty Jenkins (Monster) is hired. Jenkins was in fact connected to Marvel’s superhero sequel Thor: The Dark World, long before the Edgar Wright/Ant–Man split, and left based on creative differences. Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious) is the Israeli star who’ll bring the new Wonder Woman to the screen.

Gladiator’s Ridley Scott sadly passed on the new Blade Runner sequel but BAFTA nominated director Denis Villeneuve (Enemy, Incendies, Prisoners) is taking his place. Harrison Ford (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, The Fugitive) is confirmed to be reprising his role as the futuristic detective Rick Deckard but some new castings are now poised to be made. The latest report shows that Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Ides of March, Crazy Stupid Love, Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines) is in talks for a a so far unspecified role but you can’t deny some likeness to the original’s Rutger Hauer.

Festivals like Cannes are now major platforms for indie films to get the platform they need to campaign their way to the Oscars and the following list might show some early awards favourites, considering last year the films included Foxcatcher, Mr Turner, Two Days One Night, Maps to the Stars, Leviathan, The Homesman, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Force Majeure but also included the massive flop Grace of Monaco. Here’s this years selection, which’ll each be scrutinised by the jury (led by Fargo and No Country For Old Men directors Joel and Ethan Cohen) for the prestigious prize of Palme D’Or.

Film: Dheepan
Director: Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone)
Starring: Vincent Rottiers, Marc Zinga
Premise: The story of a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
Nation: France

Film: Marguerite et Julien
Director: Valerie Donzelli (Declaration of War)
Starring: Anais Demoustier, Frederic Pierrot
Nation: France

Film: The Tale of Tales
Director: Matteo Garrone (Gamorra)
Starring: Salma Hayek (Frida), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), John C Reilly (The Aviator), Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Nation: Italy

Film: Carol
Director: Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, I’m Not There)
Starring: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Rooney Mara (The Social Network), Kyle Chandler (Super 8), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Cory Michael Smith (Gotham)
Premise: Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Nation: United States

Film: Nie yin niang (The Assassin)
Director: Hsiao Hsien Hou (Three Times)
Starring: Qi Shu, Chen Chang, Satoshi Tsumbuki
Nation: Taiwan

Film: Shan He Gu Ren (Mountains May Depart
Director: Zhangke Jia (Still Life, A Touch of Sin)
Starring: Tao Zhao
Nation: China

Film: Out Little Sister
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda (Nobody Knows, Still Walking)
Starring: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa
Nation: Japan

Film: Macbeth
Director: Justin Kurzel (Snowtown)
Starring: Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave), Marion Cotillard (Inception), David Thewlis (The Theory of Everything), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby), Sean Harris (Prometheus), Jack Reynor (What Richard Did), Paddy Considine (The World’s End)
Premise: Macbeth, a duke of Scotland, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Nation: United Kingdom, France, United States

Film: The Lobster
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth)
Starring: Colin Farrell (Minority Report), Lea Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Colour), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas), John C Reilly (The Aviator), Olivia Colman (Tyranasour)
Premise: In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods.
Nation: Greece

Film: Mon Roi
Director: Maiwenn (Polisse)
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Louis Garrel
Nation: France

Film: Mia Madre
Director: Nanni Moretti (The Son’s Room)
Starring: Margherita Buy (The Caiman), John Turturro (Barton Fink)
Nation: Italy

Film: La giovinezza (The Early Years)
Director: Paolo Sorrentino (This Must Be the Place)
Starring: Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), Michael Caine (Batman Begins), Jane Fonda (Coming Home), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs)
Premise: Fred and Mick, two old friends, are on vacation in an elegant hotel at the foot of the Alps.
Nation: Italy

Film: Louder Than Bombs
Director: Joaquim Trier (Oslo August 31st)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Amy Ryan (Birdman), Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards), David Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck)
Nation: Norway, France, Denmark, United States

Film: The Sea of Trees
Director: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting)
Starring: Matthew MacConaughey (Interstellar), Naomi Watts (King Kong), Ken Watanabe (Letters Form Iwo Jima)
Premise: A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out.
Nation: United States

Film: Sicario
Director: Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies)
Starring: Emily Blunt (Looper), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men), Jon Beranthal (Fury), Benicio Del Toro (Traffic)
Premise: A young female FBI agent joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel boss, a job that ends up pushing her ethical and moral values to the limit.
Nation: United States

Films not competing:

Film: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller (The Road Warrior)
Starring: Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises), Charlize Theron (Prometheus), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class)
Premise: In a post-apocalyptic world, in which people fight to the death, Max teams up with a mysterious woman, Furiousa, to try and survive.
Nation: Australian, United States

Film: Irrational Man
Director: Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris, Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Starring: Emma Stone (The Help), Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Premise: On a small town college campus, a philosophy professor in existential crisis gives his life new purpose when he enters into a relationship with his student.
Nation: United States

Film: The Little Prince
Director: Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda)
Starring: Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes), Mackenzie Foy (Interstellar), Paul Giamatti (Saving Mr Banks), James Franco (127 Hours), Marion Cotillard (Inception), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Benicio Del Toro (Traffic), Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo), Ricky Gervais (The Office)
Premise: A pilot crashes in the desert and meets a little boy from a distant planet.
Nation: France

Taron Egerton as Eddie the Eagle, new still from MacConaughey’s Free State of Jones and new poster for San Andreas

The Hunger Games director Gary Ross helms the new Civil War thriller The Free State of Jones which just revealed its first image and a lengthy description. “Set during the Civil War, The Free State of Jones tells the story of defiant Southern farmer Newt Knight, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers, and with the assistance of local slaves, Knight launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones. His marriage to a former slave, Rachel, and his subsequent establishment of a mixed race community was unique in the post-war South. Knight continued his struggle into Reconstruction, which distinguished him as a compelling, if controversial, figure of defiance long beyond the War.”

The film will star Oscar winner Matthew MacConaughey (Interstellar, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, True Detective), Golden Globe winner Keri Russell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Felicity, The Americans), Mahershala Ali (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, House of Cards) and BAFTA Rising Star nominee Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle). Sadly the March release date may rule it our of awards contention.

While they don’t tell the whole story, trailers can set the pace of the level of anticipation for a blockbuster release. Terminator: Genisys and Ant-Man, among others, lost interest through their teasers while Jurassic World, Tomorrowland, Avengers 2 and Star Wars 7 thrived off of the hype. Disaster epic San Andreas had a surprisingly engaging debut via this format and the new poster is boosting our interest. The cast will include Dwayne Johnson (Fast Five), Alexandra Daddario (True Detective), Ioan Gruffudd (Titanic, Forever) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways, Saving Mr Banks, 12 Years a Slave).

The last of our trio of new images is the first on set pic from sports biopic Eddie the Eagle, which tells the tale of Britain’s beloved (if never successful) ski long jumper Eddie Edwards. Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Testament of Youth) and Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables, The Prestige, Prisoners, The Wolverine) star in Dexter Fletcher’s directorial follow up to the smash hits Wild Bill and Sunshine on Leith.

San Andreas – May 29th

Eddie the Eagle – 2016

The Free State of Jones – March 11th 2016

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

News for Bourne 5, Spider-Man 3, Night at the Museum and Star Wars 7

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Ancient Fear. How does that sound to you? You may have guess that The Ancient Fear is the latest title to be rumoured for JJ Abrams’ sci-fi adventure, recently confirmed to be starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Max Von Sydow, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Andy Serkis. You also may have picked up that The Ancient Fear would be a complete reversal from 1977’s A New Hope. Even if this title isn’t the final one, it still hints that the villainous forces, most likely Driver and Von Sydow, will be reviving an antagonist from the past, perhaps Darth Plageuis as he’s been pulling strings since the beginning.

We’re can be pretty confident saying that The Sinister Six’s members will most likely be Green Goblin, Mysterio, Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Vulture and Kraven the Hunter but director Marc Webb has hinted at who’ll face Spidey in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. “I like the idea of Kraven,” he continues. “The Vulture. Ock. I always thought the idea of Mysterio was interesting. Maybe Scorpion. But really, Kraven I think is kind of interesting.”

Marvel fans will likely recount Kraven as a Russian big game hunter who selects Spider-Man as his new prey but it’s possible that his origin will be altered as there’s already a Russian villain in the form of Rhino. Webb’s third and final Spider-Man film will most likely star Andrew Garfield, Shailene Woodley, Paul Giamatti, Felicity Jones, Dane DeHaan and Sally Field.

We regard The Bourne Trilogy, made up of Doug Liman’s Identity and Paul Greengrass’ Supremacy and Ultimatum, to be modern action masterpieces, all of which made Tony  Gilroy’s mediocre thriller The Bourne Legacy, focussed on Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross, even more disappointing. Despite its drop in financial takings, Universal seemed determined to make a Legacy follow up with Justin Lin but all the fans want is a back to roots Bourne film with Matt Damon (The Departed, The Adjustment Bureau, True Grit, Invictus, Saving Mr Banks, Good Will Hunting) and Paul Greengrass (United 93, Green Zone, Bloody Sunday, Captain Phillips).

The Oscar winning Damon has now confirmed he’s still excited by the idea of Bourne 5. “I’ve always been open to it if Paul Greengrass is the director. We’ve just never been able to come up with a story. It felt like such a good way to end it last time,” he continued. “Having said that, I love that character. I’d love to see what happened to him.” So, if anyone has a vision for where the series should go know, get your script together and contact Universal. The studio obviously don’t want to call Legacy a failure and move on so maybe a Cross/Bourne crossover is in order.

The Night at the Museum films have never had full critical approval but the two instalments do have a huge place in the heart of fans and are a handful at the box office with each film averaging at about $500 million. It’s no wonder that Shawn Levy (Real Steal, Date Night, The Internship) wants to revive the franchise. A third instalment has been in mind for a while but, despite the odd casting, it seemed to be moving far too slow to make it in time for this its December release.

Today’s confirmation of the title has certainly proven Fox’s dedication of bringing us the sequel in time for Christmas. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb will star Ben Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Tropic Thunder, Zoolander), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Hugo, Schindler’s List), Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Cars, Midnight in Paris), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Rebel Wilson (Pain and Gain, Pitch Perfect), Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting, Dead Poets Society), Rachael Harris (The Hangover, Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Rami Malek (Short Term 12, Need for Speed), Ricky Gervais (The Office, Muppets Most Wanted), Dick Van Dyke (Mary Poppins) and the final performance of the late great Mickey Rooney.

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb – December 19th

The Bourne Betrayal – 21st August 2015

An actual Jason Bourne film – 2017?

The Amazing Spider-Man 3 – May 17th 2016

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Ancient Fear? – December 18th 2015

Tuorhoth returns with the latest on Hobbit 3, Justice League, Avengers 2, Star Trek 3, Spider-Man, Jungle Book and more!

We’re sad to say that we’ve been away on a week of huge movie news, which we’re now dubbing MEGA-NEWS. We’ve got the scoop on pretty much every major movie coming our way in the next couple of years, and beyond, besides an official casting for Star Wars: Episode VII but we’re not completely in the dark with Star Trek Into Darkness’ JJ Abrams’ sequel to the world’s biggest movie franchise.

There’s a huge amount of spin offs to Star Wars in various medias. TV shows like Clone Wars and (now) Rebels, video games such as Battlefront, Knights of the Old Republic and the hugely successful Force Unleashed saga and numerous comic books and graphic novels have revived the series through some difficult times. However, some the most renowned SW side stories are from the novels such as Timothy Zahn’s work (above) and Darth Plagueis. Some of these books are light fan-fiction but most of it is genuine, George Lucas-approved canon to the main films. Despite this, we now know that the storytelling works of Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) are not to take off from the novels.

Producer and writer Simon Kinberg informs us that “For the movies, the canon is the canon, and the canon is the six films that exist. It’s all about honouring the movies and telling a new story.” We still don’t know of a single cast member or title but that’s set to change as, all going well, filming finally begins this May. Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

The life of technological visionary Steve Jobs has once, unsuccessfully, been told on screen with Ashton Kutcher in the lead role. Sony’s alternative to this has been in their minds for a long time and it seemed quite promising when it appeared that David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Seven, The Social Network) was to direct with Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle, The Prestige) starring.

It’s now apparent that Sony are negotiating with Danny Boyle for the directing job. Boyle, the British writer and director behind Trainspotting, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Trance, Shallow Grave and Slumdog Millionaire as well as the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, is the second highly esteemed director Sony have approached after Fincher but the most exciting reveal of all of this is that Boyle may be reuniting with his star of The Beach, and five time Oscar nominee, Leonardo Di Caprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, Titanic, Inception, Django Unchained, The Departed) for the film.

Ray Fisher has only one on-screen acting role so far, 2008 short film The Good The Bad and The Confused, and yet he’s swiftly becoming one of the most talked about young stars in Hollywood. He came into competition for the male lead in Star Wars, which he may be unlikely to get, but has just landed the biggest role in his career: he’s been cast as DC comics hero Cyborg in Zack Snyder’s (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead) Man of Steel sequel Batman vs Superman. Despite that unconfirmed title, it seems as if this’ll much more of a Justice League themed adventure than we’d thought at the 2013 Comic-Con announcement. Fisher joins Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, Gal Gadot, Tao Okamoto and Laurence Fishburne in the cast. Batman vs Superman – May 6th 2016

Disney and Warner Bros are in a highly heated race to get a new remake of The Jungle Book to are screens. The latter found a great choice of director in Ron Howard (Rush, Apollo 13) before his replacement set up Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings/King Kong star and The Hobbit’s second unit director) for the job. Meanwhile Disney is far ahead; Elf and Iron Man’s Jon Favreau is nailed in to direct and we know that Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, The Wire, Luther, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) will voice Shere-Kahn but another two stars are part of a new rumour. 12 Years a Slave’s Oscar winning supporting star Lupita Nyong’o is up for the role of Rackcha, Mowgli’s adoptive wolf-mother, while Scarlett Johansson (four time Golden Globe nominee of The Avengers and Lost in Translation fame) could be putting an interesting spin on Kaa, the hypnotising and villainous snake whose charms put the heroes in peril. The Jungle Book – October 9th 2015

Celebrating their 300th issue and their 25th anniversary, Empire Magazine are giving some incredible coverage of upcoming films including Marvel’s sci-fi sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Joss Whedon, writer of The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Serenity and Toy Story, had this to say about the various villains in the film. “I fiercely dislike the idea of just throwing in more people for the sake of doing that. But last time I had all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versus one British character actor, and I needed more conflict.”

The chief villain is obviously the robotic Ultron and he may be Whedon’s highlight “I’m having a blast with Ultron,” Whedon said. “He’s not a creature of logic – he’s a robot who’s genuinely disturbed. We’re finding out what makes him menacing and at the same time endearing and funny and strange and unexpected, and everything a robot never is.” Star Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) recently shared the very first on-set pic from the film (above) that also stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, James Spader, Thomas Kretschmann, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jeremy Renner, Hayley Atwell, Don Cheadle and Paul Bettany. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Taking off from indie sci-fi hit Safety Not Guaranteed, writer/director Colin Trevorrow, who’s hinted at further instalments, takes on a huge role with the lead gig on dinosaur action reboot Jurassic World which has finally revealed some pics from their island photography. These sneak peeks offer a more futuristic style than we’d initially expected. The Jurassic Park sequel stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, Katie McGrath, BD Wong Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Judy Greer and Vincent D’Onofrio. Jurassic World – June 12th 2015.

Sadly, Star Trek and Fringe writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are going their seperate ways in order to focus on the bigger directing projects that have attracted them both. Kurtzman is the current candidate to direct Spider-Man spin-off Venom but Orci has expressed his desire to become the director of Star Trek 3.

Several directors, including Rupert Wyatt and Joe Cornish, had previously been rumoured after JJ Abrams opted out in favour of Star Wars. Should he get the job, it’d be the Mexican’s directorial debut while Kurtzman does have a shot-calling credit on indie drama People Like Us. Star Trek 3 – 2016

The Bourne Identity’s Doug Liman is the man behind the new Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible, Minority Report, Top Gun) sci-fi action Edge of Tomorrow. It sees a soldier forced to constantly relive a battle again and again until its success and unveiled a new poster today. With the impressive supporting cast of Emily Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau, Looper), Bill Paxton (Aliens, Agents of SHIELD) and Lara Pulver (Da Vinci’s Demons, Sherlock), it could surprise us but it’s set to be another throwaway Cruise flick that treads too closely to other films (in Oblivion’s case Moon and in this case Source Code). Edge of Tomorrow – May 30th.

There have already been some intriguing castings for Joe Wright’s (Hanna, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) reboot of Disney animation Peter Pan. Unknown star Levi Miller will play a younger version of the titular role while Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, Inside Llewyn Davis, Death Sentence) plays Pan’s adversary Hook, who currently serves under the flag of Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman – X-Men, Les Miserables, The Prestige). Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, Side Effects) will play American-Indian chief’s daughter Tiger Lily. Now an additional Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, Les Miserables), Kathy Burke (Nil By Mouth, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Nonso Anozie (Ender’s Game, The Grey) have officially joined the ensemble. Pan – July 17th 2015.

We were as thrilled as any when it was revealed that the five remaining members of Monty Python, the legendary British comedy sextet behind Life of Brian, The Flying Circus, The Meaning of Life and The Holy Grail, would be bravely running away onto the O2 stage for their final reunion but were as equally disappointed when the tickets sold out in an incredible 43 seconds. However, there may be a new way for the millions of fans missing out to enjoy the return of Mesrs Cleese, Jones, Gilliam, Idle and Palin. It’s been announced that 1500 screens (including 450 in the UK) across the globe will be presenting the show’s closing night as part of a worldwide live cinema event. Monty Python Live – June 20th.

One of the Spider-Man franchises biggest icons is one who is neither a superhero nor supervillain but Peter Parker’s chain-smoking, media-dictating Daily Bugle boss John Jonah Jameson Junior, portrayed excellently by JK Simmons in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. However, he’s yet to appear in Marc Webb’s recent reiteration The Amazing Spider-Man. Webb, flanked by Amazing Spider-Man 2’s stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan, spoke out about the possibility of JJJ’s return for future films at a Google+ fan Q&A.

“I like the idea very much of him coming up in the next film. It was more easy to accept a new Spider-Man than someone who could outdo J.K. Simmons in that role. He is so iconic. That’s something we’ve really talked about. Obviously I love that character because he poses such an interesting dilemma for Spider-Man. The answer is I don’t know, but I think you can expect to see him in the future.” The Amazing Spider-Man 3 – June 10th 2016. The Amazing Spider-Man 4 – 2018.

The final part of Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy, and Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit is approaching fast but a report from TheOneRing hinted at a potential title change from There and Back Again to Into the Fire. Neither sounded quite as previous subtitles such as An Unexpected Journey or The Desolation of Smaug. It then took us by surprise to hear that the title as officially change to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The Oscar winning writer/director Jackson himself stepped out to say this.

“Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we’ve gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the “Desolation of Smaug”.

“When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.”

Without trying to give too much away for the Tolkien-illiterate, The Battle of the Five Armies is a defining moment in Middle-Earth history and so I think it get’s a well deserved place on the titles. It’s been hinted that There and Back Again hasn’t been completely ditched and will appear on the various boxsets for the films so The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be the three films that make up our The Hobbit: There and Back Again trilogy.

Battle of the Five Armies will star Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Ian Holm, Sylvester McCoy, Aidan Turner, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Mikael Persbrandt, Billy Connolly, Graham McTavish, Hugo Weaving and Christopher Lee. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Sally Field, Campbell Scott, BJ Novak, Felicity Jones, Denis Leary, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper

It’s fair to say that 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man so that Sony could keep the rights to the character. Although it wasn’t terrible, it was genuinely below the quality we expected, seemed wildly unnecessary and under-grossed Sam Raimi’s superior trilogy. It was still successful enough to confirm numerous sequels however and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes with the promise that they’d learned from their previous errors.

In New York, Peter Parker (Garfield) is living a double life: one as the crime fighting vigilante Spider-Man and the other as a graduating student. Both lives are haunted by the death of Captain Stacy (Leary) and are turned upside down by the arrival of angered young billionaire Harry Osborn (DeHaan), who’s set to take over his sick father’s (Cooper) genetics empire. Meanwhile, lonely Oscorp, the Osborn’s company, employee Max Dillon (Foxx) suffers a severe accident at work, giving him the power to manipulate electricty. All of these events cause a rift in his relationship with the Captain’s daughter Gwen (Stone) and his Aunt May (Field), who may just hold the answer to his parent’s disappearance.

It’s a shame to say that this sequel doesn’t seem to have learnt from its predecessor. Its attempted to be much lighter but that’s ended up with some poor dialogue, particularly Spidey’s sluggish quips. We don’t exactly get a balance of this and the more horrifying sequences. There’s a constant lack of terror without and becomes hard to take the ludicrous action seriously. The reinvented Green Goblin and Electro were well designed but lacked the terror of Evil Dead’s horror maestro Sam Raimi’s trilogy and its villains.

We can accept the bonkers action in The Avengers and its likes because we better understand the bridge between the heroes and their alter-egos. In this, Spider-Man is a completely different person to Parker and I don’t think there’s one transformation scene. The deactivation of Spidey’s web shooters ends up with an uninteresting physical comedy sequence and some remarkably poor exposition.

There are few technical issues too. There’s an attempt to introduce a new heroic main theme that doesn’t quite mix with Electro’s numbing dubstep, despite boasting The Dark Knight’s Hans Zimmer. The CG in Spider-Man’s breathtaking swinging endeavourers is of great quality but the numerous slo-mo scenes, rather than increasing both detail and awe, take the life out of the action.

There are numerous highlights amongst the messy plot however. Emma Stone is greatly entertaining as Gwen as she continues to bemuse Peter. With their excellent and believable dynamic, he and the charismatic Garfield form the most convincing couple there’s been in a superhero movie but the 25 year old Stone and 30 year old Garfield still aren’t convincing as newly graduated students, and that is a huge issue with the film’s credibility.

Jamie Foxx meanwhile fantastically judges his performance as (not literally) invisible tech nerd and Spider-Man fanatic Max. His horrific accident is well handled and Electro is initially frightening in the Times Square set piece but after that he lost his sense of presence in the film.

Without trying to give much away, the film’s other villain is Dane DeHaan’s Osborn who’s desperate for the cure for his fatal disease and that desperation leads to a horrifying step into villainy. While DeHaan is both engaging and believable, he seems to have been typecast in the same neglected angst-filled role he did in Chronicle. With all of these villains, the film struggles to find a defining closing action sequence and in the end settles for three, dragging out the thin, scattershot plot even further.

Annoyingly, the film’s two most esteemed actors, Paul Giamatti and Chris Cooper, are reduced to cameo-like small roles. Giamatti plays Russian mobster Aleksei, a character with a tonne of cheap lines in the cartoonish opening sequence and likely less than three minutes’ screen time. Cooper meanwhile seems as if he’d appeared in multiple deleted scenes; his sinister motives are never fully explained and the mystery of his and Richard Parker’s work has been given a dissatisfying end to focus on Sony’s developing superhero world.

That could be a step in right direction however. Spider-Man’s read a page of Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s book; it certainly knows how to get the Marvel super-fans incredibly excited and so to reel them in for future instalments. Sadly a little too much of these in-movie teasers are in the actual trailers but that’s no reason to not let the endless hidden references, chiefly the brewings of The Gentleman and The Sinister Six, get you in the mood for more Marvel.

6/10

“Everyone has a part of themselves they hide, even from the people they love most. And you don’t have forever, none of us ever do.”

The Super-Bowl 2014 Trailers special: Transformers 4, Noah and more!

We’re not venturing into sports just yet but the American Football extravaganza known as Superbowl is a huge event for advertising. With well over 100 million Americans watching, companies have to pay the whopping sum of $8 million dollars just for a one minute advertising slot. Only the biggest of big budget, big star blockbusters can afford to make the cut so you may be quite surprised when I tell you that among the nine titanic efforts trailered last night is the new project from Darren Aronofsky!

But before we get to that, we have the matter of a movie I recently predicted to make over a billion dollars. I speak of the fourquel of a monster series – Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Director Michael Bay (Armaggedon, Pearl Harbour, Bad Boys) returns to the series after a quick, and unsuccessful, break to make Pain and Gain. The franchise hopes to continue it success with an new human cast with Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor, replacing the old guard of Shia LaBeaouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Megan Fox. This time, the Autobots are at battle with the villainous Dinobots and the technology tycoon Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), the former is revealed in the very first trailer. The film also stars Stanley Tucci and Peter Cullen. July 10th.

The second instalment in this nine-part epic is Marvel’s very own Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We’ve seen footage from this before but Superbowl unveiled the second trailer, which offers more in depth look at new antagonist The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). The plot pitches Captain America (Chris Evans) still adjusting to life in the 21st Century as well as working with SHIELD Agents such as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Crossbones (Frank Grillo) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to bring down a new menace who’s terrorising Washington. Cap 2 also stars Emily VanCamp, Samuel L Jackson, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Attwell and Toby Jones and is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. March 28th.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is next. Marc Webb returns to direct the sequel which increases the stakes for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) who has to balance life between his superhero alter ego Spider-Man, who’s battling Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the sinister father/son double act of Oscorp (Dane DeHaan as Harry and Chris Cooper as Norman), and normal life with the grieving Gwen (Emma Stone) and lonely Aunt May (Sally Field). The new trailer can be found here. To be honest, I’m not that impressed. April 18th.

Following on from their “Across the Internet” campaign, Muppets Most Wanted has launched a new ad in which the new doppelganging villain Clementine literally reaches out to us Across the Internet. Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Stanley Tucci, Ricky Gervais, Lady Gaga, Tom Hiddleston, Salma Hayek, Christoph Waltz and Danny Trejo make up the human cast alongside the classic Muppets such as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Dr Honeydrew, Walter and Animal. Flight of the Conchords/The Muppets’ James Bobin directs. March 28th.

With a premise of no CG, just expensive cars going ridiculously fast, video game adaptation Need for Speed is actually in good shape. It sees newly released ex-con Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman) getting back into the dragraces that got him locked up for a year. Upon hearing the news, Marshall’s ex racing partner Dino (Dominic Cooper – Marvel’s Howard Stark) puts a bounty on his head. Scott Waugh (Act of Valour) directs a huge cast including Michael Keeton, Dakota Johnson, Scott Mescudi and Imogen Poots. The superbowl spot can be found here. March 12th.

We return to the aforementioned Darren Aronofsky who, after impressing with the likes of Black Swan, The Wrestler, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, makes his comeback with a huge budget and cast list for his new epic picture Noah. The new trailer is available but I’m shocked that a director as prestigious as Aronofsky would fall to the depths of a Twitter hashtag; this time it’s “#TheFloodIsComing”!. The film stars Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ray Winstone, Kevin Durand, Douglas Booth, Nick Nolte and Frank Langella. April 4th.

Pompeii seems to me like one of the potential box office clunkers of the year with a decent cast list which doesn’t match its huge budget but director Paul WS Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil) may prove me wrong. The new trailer unveils a fair bit of spectacle so the film won’t rely on the cast of Kit Harrington, Carrie Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Jessica Lucas, Kiefer Sutherland, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jared Harris and Jessica Lucas alone. May 2nd.

3 Days to Kill launched a new trailer too. McG (This Means War, Terminator: Salvation, We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angles) directs this new action thriller starring Kevin Costner as an dying agent who teams up with his daughter for one last assignment which get him the life saving drug he needs. Also starring Amber Heard, Connie Nielson and Hailee Steinfeld. February 21st.

Lastly, we have another Kevin Costner project. Draft Day sees the manger of American Football’s Cleveland Browns who’s struggling to find the number one draft pick for his team. Costner will star alongside Terry Crews, Jennifer Garner and Ellen Burstyn while director Ivan Reitman (Ghost Busters, No Strings Attached). April 11th

12 Years triumphs at People’s Choice Awards and new Amazing Spider-Man 2 posters

After director Steve McQueen and star Michael Fassbender were snubbed for both Hunger and Shame, they’re finally getting award recognition for 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Film at the Golden Globes and People’s Choice and shone out at the Academy Award nominations. Here’s the full list

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr Banks

Best Actor

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Philllips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Blue Jasmine

Oprah Winfrey – The Butler

Best Young Actor/Actress

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Best Acting Ensemble

American Hustle

August: Osage County

The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography

Emmannuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbit – 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction

The Great Gatsby

Gravity

Her

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

12 Years a Slave

Best Editing

Gravity

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Rush

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Costume Design

The Great Gatsby

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Saving Mr Banks

12 Years a Slave

Best Hair and Make-up

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie

Lone Survivor

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Rush

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Best Comedy

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

Best Actor in a Comedy

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

Best Actress in a Comedy

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

Best Sci-fi Horror Movie

Gravity

The Conjuring

Star Trek Into Darkness

Iron Man 3

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Best Documentary Feature

20 Feet From Stardom

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

Best Song

Let it Go – Frozen

Atlas – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr Kennedy – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – The Great Gatsby

Best Score

Stephen Price – Gravity

William Butler, Owen Pallett – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Gravity has won the most awards with an impressive six wins but it’s 12 Years a Slave’s day as it picked up Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. American Hustle gained four wins while Frozen, The Great Gatsby, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Lone Survivor got two. I’m not going to do in depth analysis but I’m stilled surprised Her is being praised as an “original” and “fresh” premise as it has exactly the same plot as a Big Bang Theory episode where a lonely Raj (Kunal Nayyar) falls in love with his I-Phone’s Siri. I’m probably not the first to say it but I haven’t heard anyone else pick up on it.

The only other major piece of news is the stunning new poster for Marvel and Sony’s superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Marc Webb directs and Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper star but today’s focus is the hopefully terrifying new villain Electro, played by Ray, Collateral and Django Unchained’s Jamie Foxx.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th