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.

Minions review

Directors: Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Pierre Coffin, Allison Janney, Michael Keaton, Jennifer Saunders, Steve Coogan, Geoffrey Rush

The unbelievable success of the Despicable Me films likely stems from the mass popularity of Gru’s small yellow workers, The Minions. Five years on from their first appearance, their very own spin off is hitting cinemas but there’s some doubt as to how well the adoration of these heroes will translate into a successful standalone adventure. A third Despicable Me film is already in the works but this is vital to the series’ continuation after that.

By 1968, the Minions (a race dedicated to serving evil) find themselves washed up and directionless without a master. Three brave Minions – Kevin (Coffin), Stuart (Coffin) and Bob (Coffin) – journey to New York in search of someone to serve. After finally winning the employment and adoration of Scarlet Overkill (Bullock), the world’s first female supervillain, they soon become embroiled in a plot to become rulers of England.

The first ten or so minutes of Minions are pure genius. Set to the track of The Turtles’ Happy Together, their evolution is traced from their origin as single celled organisms and then as they journey onto land. Through the years they attach themselves to various masters (including a T-Rex, Dracula and Napoleon) but all in vain as the Minions lead the villains to an untimely demise. The sequence is ingenious with some fantastically smart sight gags (eg: convincing a caveman to take on a bear with a fly swatter) but unfortunately the film does lose pace after that.

After this, three of our tiny heroes travel to New York and in a series of inexplicably hilarious but undoubtedly episodic and forced situations wind up at the ’68 Orlando Villain-Con (a hub on wannabe wrong-doers) and later London at the height of Beetlemania. While this does provide an excellent excuse to pack one of the year’s best soundtracks with some glorious British rock icons (The Who, The Kinks, The Spencer Davies Group, The Monkees).

The most hilarious parts of Minions come at its most silliest but it lacks the emotional impact of Despicable Me’s genuinely touching moments such as Gru slowly coming to appreciate his relationship with his adopted daughters. This spin-off struggles to have these charming heart-to-heart moments that distinguished the previous instalments.

The voice cast of this film is hardly a let down but is still fairly standard. Gravity’s Oscar winner Sandra Bullock hogs the limelight as Scarlet Overkill, a shrieky, malevolent and overall unempathable villain. The rest of the cast are fairly tolerable however with Mad Men’s Jon Hamm voicing Scarlet’s inventor husband Herb, Allison Janney and Michael Keaton as amateur villain odd couple Walter and Madge and some excellent audio cameos from Brit talent such as Jennifer Saunders as Queen Elizabeth, Steve Coogan as a trio of hapless Beefeaters and Geoffrey Rush narrating.

This doesn’t distract from the fact that the Minions themselves are evidently the lead stars. Director Pierre Coffin’s voice work in a nonsensical hybrid gibberish providing the bulk of the narrative for ninety minutes could have been head-ache inducing but thanks to the personalisation of the three leads – Stuart’s leadership, Bob’s naivety, Kevin’s nonchalant persona – we can easily get on board and root for the heroes, if not so much the villains. Overall Minions is a greatly entertaining and ludicrously silly fan pleasing animation with its heart in the right place.

7/10

“And that is how the Minions found their new boss! He was cunning! He was evil! He was perfect! He was… despicable!”

Summer box-office part 1 – Ant-Man, M:I-5, Ted 2, Terminator 5, Minions and more!

Its been a while since our last box-office update so in this instalment we’ll roundup the best of the summer so far. The pre-Summer cash-in period was dominated by the likes of superhero smash hit sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1396 million), Pixar’s acclaimed animation Inside Out ($556 million), fast follow up Furious 7 ($1512 million), musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2 ($282 million), disaster thriller San Andreas ($461 million), action reboot Mad Max: Fury Road ($367 million) and the multi-record breaking dinosaur mayhem of Jurassic World ($1547 million). Moving into July, here some major favourites.

Film: Ted 2
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Patrick Stewart
Budget: $68 million
Opening weekend: $33.5 million
Box-office: $160 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
Budget: $155 million
Opening weekend: $27 million
Box-office: $318 million
Summary: While it was a healthy opening but the franchise has long lost its previously stellar hype.

Film: Magic Mike XXL
Director: Gregory Jacobs
Starring: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Amber Heard, Jada Pinkett Smith
Budget: $14 million
Opening weekend: $12.9 million
Box-office: $102 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
Budget: $74 million
Opening weekend: $115 million
Box-office: $854 million
Summary: This triumphant spin off managed to surpass and compete with the previous instalments of the beloved Despicable Me franchise.

Film: Ant-Man
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Michael Pena, Michael Douglas
Budget: $130 million
Opening weekend: $57 million
Box-office: $291 million
Summary: It’s an underperformance in comparison to Marvel’s fellow Phase 2 superhero flicks such as Avengers Assemble ($1519 million), Iron Man 3 ($1215 million), Thor: The Dark World ($644 million), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714 million), Guardians of the Galaxy ($774 million) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1396 million) but is a worthy reception for the kings of summer blockbusters.

Film: Trainwreck
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, Tilda Swinton
Budget: $35 million
Opening weekend: $30.1 million
Box-office: $80 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
Budget: $88 million
Opening weekend: $24 million
Box-office: $102 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
Budget: $25 million
Opening weekend: $16.7 million
Box-office: $34.2 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
Budget: $12 million
Opening weekend: $12.7 million
Box-office: $49.5 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
Budget: $31 million
Opening weekend: $14.9 million
Box-office: $22 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
Budget: $150 million
Opening weekend: $56 million
Box-office: $121 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.

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

The 2015 Preview Issue

2015 is the new 2012 (The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit), which itself was the new 1999 (The Sixth Sense, The Phantom Menace, The Matrix, Two Story 2). Its releases should not only be huge financial successes but promise to be delightful watches as well. Here’s what we reckon will be topping the year’s box office in twelve months time.

1. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Director: Joss Whedon – $1.7 billion
2. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens – JJ Abrams – $1.4 billion
3. Spectre – Sam Mendes – $1.2 billion
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – $925 million
5. Furious 7 – James Wan – $875 million
6. Minions – Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin – $800 million
7. Jurassic World – Colin Trevorrow – $775 million
8. Inside Out – Pete Docter – $725 million
9. Mission: Impossible 5 – Christopher McQuarrie – $700 million
10. Ant-Man – Peyton Reed – $675 million
11. The Good Dinosaur – Peter Sohn – $625 million
12. Ted 2 – Seth MacFarlane – $600 million
13. Terminator Genisys – Alan Taylor – $575 million
14. The Fantastic Four – Josh Trank – $550 million
15. Tomorrowland – Brad Bird – $525 million

We reckon The Avengers sequel will edge Star Wars seeing as the former series’ commercial success is actually growing. Pixar’s double-billed return to original storytelling with Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur should score them impressively but Minions will triumph on the animation front. The only other original work we expect to see doing well is sci-fi adventure Tomorrowland. The race in the new crop of reboots will be won by Jurassic World, beating off competition from Terminator and Fantastic Four. Close to gracing the Top 15 will be sequels to YA franchises (The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, Insurgent) and there might be an upset for Chris Columbus/Adam Sandler comedy Pixels and Joe Wright/Hugh Jackman fantasy adventure Pan. Should it finally get a major release, The Interview may well be a smash hit.

Now here are our top twenty to one most anticipated releases of the year.

20) The Fantastic Four

Director: Josh Trank
Writers: Josh Trank, Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater, TS Nowlin
Starring: Miles Teller, Jamie Bell, Kate Mara, Michael B Jordan, Toby Kebbell
Premise: For a very long time, next to nothing had been revealed about Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot. Star Wars took a similar approach and that sent fans running wild with speculation but no such hype surrounded the FF, exposing a serious lack of interest. Still, Chronicle’s Trank is a promising hope and the the high-end castings of Teller (Whiplash), Bell (Bill Elliot), Mara (House of Cards), Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Jordan (Fruitvale Station) ought to liven things up.
Release: August 6th

19) Everest

Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Writers: William Nicholson, Mark Medoff, Justin Isbell, Lem Dobbs, Simon Beaufoy
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, Jason Clarke, Elizabeth Debicki, John Hawkes, Emily Watson
Premise: An absolute first-rate cast from two teams who embark on an expedition to the peak of the world’s highest mountain, where they also face the world’s toughest terrain. The stills so far reveal some spectacular drama.
Release: October 2nd

18) Mission: Impossible 5

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Drew Pearce, Will Staples
Starring: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris, Ving Rhames
Premise: It’s hard to get excited when all we have to go on is a few on-set snaps but we can still expect a high-end spectacle of action. Uniting Cruise and McQuarrie (star/writer of Edge of Tomorrow) is a solid move and the returning cast of Ghost Protocol (Pegg, Renner, Patton) hints at more franchise continuity than before.
Release: December 26th

17) The Man From UNCLE

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Guy Ritchie, Lionel Wigram, Jeff Kleeman, David Campbell Wilson
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris
Premise: Bond and Hunt are both set in stone in their nationalities but spy reboot The Man From UNCLE pitches a teaming up of the American Napoleon Solo (Cavill) and the Russian Illya Kuryakin (Hammer). With Sherlock Holmes/Snatch director Guy Ritchie helming it ought to be a truly gripping thriller.
Release: August 14th

16) Child 44

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Writers: Richard Price
Starring: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Paddy Considine, Jason Clarke, Dev Patel, Joel Kinnaman, Charles Dance
Premise: In Stalin-era Soviet Union, a detective investigates a series of murder, the complication is that the state believes crime doesn’t exist. The cast alone is enough of a reason to get interested and Daniel Espinosa proved his action credentials in Safe House.
Release: April 17th

15) Minions

Director: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin
Writer: Brian Lynch
Starring: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton
Premise: There are very few well favoured comedy spin offs but the first trailer for Despicable Me’s spawn the Minions looked promising.
Release: June 26th

14) Untitled Steven Spielberg Cold War Project

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: Tom Hanks, Amy Ryan, Alan Alda, Mark Rylance
Premise: We know nothing more than the title suggests but another collaboration between Spielberg (Jaws, ET, AI, Minority Report, Schindler’s List, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park) and Hanks (Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips, Cast Away, The Green Mile, Road to Perdition) is a huge attention grabber. The pair’s previous collaborations are Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal and Saving Private Ryan.
Release: October 9th

13) Chappie

Director: Neill Blomkamp
Writers: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Hugh Jackman, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver
Premise: The director of District 9 takes on a slightly more light hearted venture as Chappie, a discarded robotic cop, us taken under the wing of a group of scientists who teach it. Soon, others realise that Chappie is potentially dangerous.
Release: March 6th

12) The Walk

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis, Christopher Browne
Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale
Premise: As chronicled in the Oscar winning documentary Man on Wire, stuntman Philippe Petit begins his ultimate accomplishment by wire walking from one Twin Tower to the other. This is the first teaming up of the duo Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away) and Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception).
Release: October 2nd

11) Ant-Man

Director; Peyton Reed
Writers: Gabriel Ferrari, Andrew Barrer, Adam McKay, Edgar Wright
Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Judy Greer

10) Inside Out

Director: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
Writers: Michael Arndt, Pete Docter
Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane
Premise: Pixar’s second release of 2015 is the brilliantly madcap concept of emotions, symbolised as the characters above, controlling the emotions within our mind. Unlike The Good Dinosaur, this has a Pixar regular, Pete Docter (Monsters Inc, Up), at the helm as well as Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arndt.
Release: July 24th

9) Jurassic World

Director: Colin Trevorrow
Writers: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins, Omar Sy, Judy Greer, Jake Johnson, Vincent D’Onofrio
Premise: We’re well prepared for a sequel that won’t live up to the original’s same magic. Still, Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) and his new set of leads – Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Howard (The Help), Robinson (The Kings of Summer) and Simpkins (Insidious) – look set to give a fresh rebranding.
Release: June 12th

8) Tomorrowland

Director: Brad Bird
Writers: Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird
Starring: Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Judy Greer
Premise: One f the year’s most secretive releases comes from Pixar protogee Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) and, while it is a fairly original prospect, it’s in fact roughly based upon Walt Disney’s own bright and bold vision of the future.
Release: May 22nd

7) Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Zoe Kravitz, Nicholas Hoult
Premise: Pleasing the die hard fans of the original will be a tough task but the footage so far revealed for this sequel is phenomenal. It’ll be massively entertaining to see Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Locke) in a rawer action role.
Release: May 15th

6) The Martian

Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: Drew Goddard
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessican Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kirsten Wiig, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean
Premise: The film’s tone, either epic or dramatic, has yet to have been established but it sees Damon’s astronaut stranded on the red planet. Still, we’re immediately excited to see what legendary Brit director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Black Hawk Dawn, Alien, Blade Runner) can bring next.
Release: November 27th

5) Spectre

Director: Sam Mendes
Writers: John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade
Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Andrew Scott, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen
Premise: After Skyfall became one of the undisputedly great Bond films (rivalling Dr No, Goldfinger, GoldenEye and Casino Royale) and its follow up is hoping to be just as successful. In this new adventure, Bond (Craig) tracks a mysterious signal from a previous mission and finds a secret organisation, led by Waltz’s Oberhauser.
Release: October 23rd

4) In the Heart of the Sea

Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Charles Leavitt, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Riley, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson
Premise: Fresh off of smash hit racing drama Rush, Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) returns with a period thriller based on the true story that inspire Moby Dick. Hemsworth’s whaling crew are stranded in the see for weeks on end as the most fearsome whale they have ever witnessed haunts them. The trailer is awesome, terrifying and truly monstrous.
Release: March 13th

3) Crimson Peak

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Writers: Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins, Lucinda Coxon
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, Doug Jones, Burn Gorman
Premise: The masterful Mexican Del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Pacific Rim/writer of The Hobbit trilogy, returns to properly gothic horror as aspiring author Edith Cushing (Wasikowska) moves into a new home with her sinister new husband Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston). If it’s what it promises to be, we could have a chilling masterpiece on our hands.
Release: October 16th

2) The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Director: Joss Whedon
Writer: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, James Spader, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Samuel L Jackson, Andy Serkis, Cobie Smulders, Don Cheadle, Stellan Skarsgard, Hayley Atwell, Thomas Kretschmann
Premise: Stark’s robot peacekeeping program gets out of hand as his creation begins its own global dominations. Marvel’s other properties (Inhumans and Doctor Strange) are being set up elsewhere but this is sowing the seeds of Civil War, Black Panther and Infinity War. Still Whedon’s superhero sequel will be darker, bolder, bigger and better.
Release: April 24th

1) Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Director: JJ Abrams
Writers: JJ Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Andy Serkis, Max Von Sydow, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Warwick Davis, Christina Chong, Iko Uwais, Maisie Richardson Sellers
Premise: Besides the setting (30 years on from Return of the Jedi) we know almost nothing but how could anything else be number one? Perhaps it would have been lower down before that trailer landed but it just blew 90% of our worries out the water. We’re equally terrified and excited to what JJ will produce. Others may be surefire hits but this is the one we hope for the most.
Release: December 18th

Radcliffe boards Now You See Me 2 plus new trailers for Chappie and The Minions

The eight-part thrill ride of the Harry Potter franchise culminated in a certain trio becoming an icon of the century. It was always going to be difficult for lead star Daniel Radcliffe to build his own career post-Potter but he seems to be trying to reinvent himself as a rising indie star. The underrated The Woman in Black was followed up by poetry drama Kill Your Darlings, rom com What If and new horror Horns as well as co starring with Jon Hamm on TV’s A Young Doctor’s notebook. He’s getting a lot of buzz ahead of playing Igor in Frankenstein but he’ll be taking a more mainstream role soon.

He’s joined the sequel to last year’s surprisingly successful caper Now You See Me. Also signed on to return are Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Foxcatcher), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Zombieland), Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games, True Detective), Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Master of Sex), Dave Franco (21 Jump Street, Superbad) and Michael Caine (The Dark Knight trilogy, Children of Men). John M Chu directs.

The decade’s most beloved animated creatures are getting their very own spin off. Following the accumulative grossing of the two Despicable Me instalments, The Minions will dominate the 2015 film slate (in a year including Avengers 2, Star Wars 7, Terminator 5, Jurassic Park 4, Bond 24, Mission Impossible 5, Ted 2 and more). Sandra Bullock (Gravity, Crash) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Million Dollar Arm) will star as the villainous duo Scarlet and Herb Overkill while Gru, voiced by Foxcatcher/Anchorman’s Steve Carell, will play a imposing presence on the plot.

Some of 2015’s releases may well get swamped by the packed schedule, including Chappie. This new sci-fi thriller comes courtesy of District 9 and Elysium’s Neill Blomkamp. The stars include Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Newsroom), Sharlto Copley (Maleficent, District 9), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, Alien) and Hugh Jackman (X-Men, The Fountain, Les Miserables, The Prestige).

Chappie – March 6th 2015

Minions – June 26th 2015

Now You See Me 2 – June 10th 2016

The Empire Awards 2014 – 12 Years! Hobbit! Gravity! Alan Partridge! World’s End! Filth! Hunger Games and more!

The fantastic Empire unload their biggest awards yet with their 25th anniversary special. They, like us, let the worthy blockbusters to go head to head with the awards bait. It’s not as prestigious as the Oscars but does show us for of the fans’ view. So in that respect, this really is quite major.

Best Male Newcomer:

Aidan Turner – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

George MacKay – Sunshine on Leith

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

Best Female Newcomer:

Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Antonia Thomas – Sunshine On Leith

Elizabeth Debecki – The Great Gatsby

Freya Mavor – Sunshine on Leith

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Best Horror:

The Conjuring

A Field in England

Evil Dead

World War Z

You’re Next

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

This is 40

This is the End

The World’s End

Best Thriller:

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Captain Phillips

Now You See Me

Prisoners

Trance

Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Gravity

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Supporting Actor:

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Sam Clafin – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Mia Wasikowska – Stoker

Jameson Best Leading Actor:

James McAvoy – Filth

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Best Leading Actress:

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Edgar Wright – The World’s End

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Empire Icon:

Hugh Jackman

Empire Hero:

Simon Pegg

Empire Inspiration:

Paul Greengrass

25 Years Award – The Action Hero of Our Lifetime:

Arnold Schwarzenegger

25 Years Award – The Legend of Our Lifetime:

Tom Cruise

Best British Film:

The World’s End

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Filth

Rush

Sunshine on Leith

Best Film:

Gravity

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Seth Rogen enrols for Console Wars, Marvel unveils Doctor Strange directing shortlist and find the Empire Award nominees

The award ceremony season is in full swing with last week’s BAFTAs, this weekend’s Oscars and last night’s homegrown Tuorhoth Awards. Another alternate look on the last year’s films can be found with the Empire Awards for which the nominations have just been announced. The winners will be announced on March 30th but you can vote for your favourites here.

Best Film:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Edgar Wright – The World’s End

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Best Leading Actor:

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

James McAvoy – Filth

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Best Leading Actress:

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best British Film:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Filth

Rush

Sunshine on Leith

The World’s End

Best Supporting Actress:

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Mia Wasikowska – Stoker

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor:

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Sam Clafin – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Richard Armitage – The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Thriller:

Captain Phillips

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Now You See Me

Prisoners

Trance

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

This is 40

This is the End

The World’s End

Best Horror:

A Field in England

The Conjuring

Evil Dead

World War Z

You’re Next

Best Female Newcomer:

Adele Exarchopoulous – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Antonia Thomas – Sunshine on Leith

Elizabeth Debecki – The Great Gatsby

Freya Mavor – Sunshine on Leith

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Male Newcomer:

Aidan Turner – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

George McKay – Sunshine on Leith

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

Picking up a Best Comedy nomination at the Empires was This is the End and the writing/directing duo behind it are lining up a new project. Evan Goldberg (writer of Goon, Pineapple Express and Superbad) and Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, 50/50, Paul) have been hired by Sony for Console Wars. This is a comedy detailing the vicious rivalry between Sega and Nintendo in the ’90s which lead to the multi-billion industry we know today. The pair will write and direct, as they did in This is the End, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Rogen went on to star in the film yet nothing’s been confirmed about that just yet.

Finally, we can announce the directing shortlist for Marvel’s upcoming fantasy project Doctor Stranger. The film was greenlighted by producer Kevin Feige in October and since there’s been huge speculation as to both who would call the shots on the superhero adventure as well as who would portray the titular hero. The potential directors are Mark Andrews, Nicolaj Arcel, Dean Israelite and Jonathan Levine. We’ll give you a quick brief for these four candidates.

Oscar winning director Mark Andrews directed Pixar’s feature length Brave and short animation One Man Band as well as writing Pixar’s short Jack-Jack Attack and John Carter. Israelite, cousin of Jonathan Liebesman is the director of successful short films The Department of Nothing and Magician. The most famous of the quartet is probably Jonathan Levine (50/50, Warm Bodies, The Wackness) but the most promising is Danish born Nikolaj Arcel, director of King’s Game and the brilliant period drama A Royal Affair.

The film will likely be the second in Marvel’s third phase but, if you can’t wait till 2016, there’s plenty of superhero action to keep you company. Captain America: The Winter Soldier comes this March, Guardians of the Galaxy launches in August, The Avengers: Age of Ultron battles in May 2015 followed by Ant-Man in July of that year. After that, there could be Captain America 3, Thor 3, Guardians 2 or Black Panther before Avengers 3.

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation – 2016

Doctor Strange – 2016

2014 Empire Awards – March 30th

The 2014 Tuorhoth Awards Nominations

If you’ve been following some of our recent posts, you’ll have picked up that The 2014 Tuorhoth Awards are on their way and today we’re going to announce the nominees. The nominees have been selected by a group of four elite judges. Our aim is to provide a mix of mainstream and arthouse for a honest awards ceremony to celebrate the best in film. The winners will be announced next week.

Best Movie:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Cloud Atlas

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

Rush

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Thor: The Dark World

Best Leading Actress:

Carey Mulligan – The Great Gatsby

Amy Acker – Much Ado About Nothing

Rinko Kikuchi – Pacific Rim

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Best Leading Actor:

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Zachary Quinto – Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Director:

Justin Chadwick – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Ron Howard – Rush

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Baz Luhrmann – The Great Gatsby

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Moises Arias – The Kings of Summer

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Supporting Actress:

Doona Bae – Cloud Atlas

Naomi Harris – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

The Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Wreck-It Ralph

Best Sci-Fi:

Cloud Atlas

Ender’s Game

Man of Steel

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Fantasy:

47 Ronin

Cloud Atlas

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Thor: The Dark World

The Wolverine

Best Animated Film:

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

Wreck-It Ralph

Best Drama:

12 Years a Slave

The Great Gatsby

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Rush

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Thriller:

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Lone Ranger

Now You See Me

World War Z

Kermode Award for Best Newcomer:

Barkhad Abdi

Moises Arias

Doona Bae

Luke Evans

Lupita Nyong’o

Best Original Song:

Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

I See Fire – Ed Sheeran – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Happy – Pharrel Williams – Despicable Me 2

Best Musical Score:

Oz: The Great and Powerful – Danny Elfman

Gravity – Steven Price

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Howard Shore

Cloud Atlas – Tom Tykwer

Man of Steel – Hans Zimmer

Best Special Effects:

Ender’s Game

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Original Screenplay:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa – Armando Ianucci, Steve Coogan

American Hustle – Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell

Gravity – Jonas Cuaron, Alfonso Cuaron

The Kings of Summer – Chris Galletta

Wreck-It Ralph – Jennifer Lee

Best Adapted Screenplay:

12 Years a Slave – John Ridley

Captain Phillips – Billy Ray

Cloud Atlas – Lana Wachowksi, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer

The Great Gatsby – Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Steve Conrad

Are We Crazy? Did we miss out a classic? Tell us your favourite movies from the last year in the comments and get unsung heroic in the soptlight!

Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor, Meledandri talks “single-cell Minions” and Despicable Me 3 and Del Toro’s Crimson Peak confirms release date

Despicable Me’s release in 2010 took us by surprise. An original concept with a relatively small budget and only one major movie star, Steve Carell, taking $500 million is fairly unheard of but that’s what it managed and it also proved that you don’t have to be Disney, Blue Sky, Pixar or Dreamworks to have huge critical and financial success as an animated film. Last year’s sequel was an even bigger triumph, taking $900 million and becoming the highest grossing film in the UK box office of 2013 as well as receiving two Oscar nominations. Spawning from that are The Minions, the spin-off for the lovable yellow servants, and Despicable Me 3. DM3 hasn’t been as talked about as much as the former but that’s probably because it’s a little over three years from release.

Despicable Me/Me and Ice Age 1/2/3 producer, and Illumination head honcho, Chris Meledrandi and spoken about how the future of the series, which we have now dubbed “The Minion Saga”, will flow. First off, The Minions! We know that the spin off movie’s main setting will be London and New York in the 1960s but the story arc may go further than that: “We start the Minions film at the dawn of time, when they’re Minion single-celled creatures and it takes us all the way up to the 1960s in London and New York.

“The Minions’ goal always has been to serve the biggest, baddest villain they can find. But over the years they’ve inadvertently ended up killing their own leader through happenstance. The movie does become their quest for a new leader and their target becomes the first female supervillain, Scarlett Overkill, voiced by Sandra Bullock.” He went on to explain how the Minions’ popularity took the studio by surprise.

“When we were making the first film, all we knew is the animators loved animating them, we loved watching them as the film was evolving, but you rarely at that point are thinking beyond just completing the film. Once the first film was released, there was this chemical reaction between the audience and these characters that started to build, even when there isn’t a film in release.” Meledrandi also brought up how DM3 is shaping up.

“We are in the story phase and the early part of scripting. The experience of moving from the first film to the second film was very different from my prior times developing a sequel. When we moved from Ice Age to Ice Age 2, we were really stuck; a story didn’t just organically emerge. While I’m very proud of Ice Age 2, from a storytelling sense, it’s a very thin story. It was almost as if there had been a completion in the first film from just a storytelling point of view, not from the audience’s love of the characters, it just wasn’t leading to another story.

“When we feel like Gru’s story is complete, we’ll stop making the movies, but right now, what ends up happening is that as we explore stories, there’s so much left to tell. Leaving the last film he’s raising the girls, he has completed this work where all of a sudden where he was working on the side of good. But there’s just a lot more than that collectively; Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio and Pierre Coffin are finding interesting to explore.”

Above is Guillermo Del Toro, legendary, Mexican, Oscar nominated director of The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, Pacific Rim and Hellboy. He’s currently at the helm of a new horror project titled Crimson Peak. It tells the story of young author Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska – Alice in Wonderland, Stoker, The Kid’s Are All Right) who’s charming new husband (Tom Hiddleston – The Avengers’ Loki, War Horse) may have a psychopathic side. Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, Green Street Hooligans), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Tree of Life) and Burn Gorman (Torchwood, The Dark Knight Rises). The film has now confirmed an October 16th 2015 release so I don’t think it’ll have any particular direct competition.

Now to tonight’s main headline which I’m sure is the one you’re here for. It’s at this point I introduce Batman vs. Superman, a huge DC superhero clash directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, Man of Steel) and starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Gal Gadot and Laurence Fishbourne, plus, potentially, Jason Momoa and Joaquin Phoenix. You’d think this’d be huge blockbuster material but it scurried from 2015 to 16. With a bit of a stall in production occurring, we weren’t expecting any kind of announcement like the one of today but today’s as good as any.

There’s been a double casting! It’s been confirmed that Jesse Eisenberg, Oscar nominated actor of The Social Network, Now You See Me and Zombieland, will portray the menacing Lex Luthor. I think this is a genius casting that offers a fresher perspective of the villain often associated with the cliched performances of Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey in previous Superman efforts. Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King, The Man With the Iron Mask) has been cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred, reprising the role from The Dark Knight’s Michael Caine. Now, the film’s cast has a total amount of Oscar nominations of 14, if you include the Academy Award winning directing and writing antics of Ben Affleck in Argo and Good Will Hunting.

Batman vs. Superman – May 6th 2016

Despicable Me 3 – June 30th 2017

The Minions – July 10th 2015

Crimson Peak – October 16th 2015