HI. MY name is Theresa and I’m a trailer addict. Sometimes I think the trailers are even better than the movies I end up watching. I love that sense of anticipation and thrill of possibility – what may come could be the best movie I’ve ever seen. Or not.
But, while I engage with the trailer, the possibilities are endless, the thrills are visceral and everything is just so sparkly.
And yes, there’s even an app called Trailer Addict, which keeps me nicely in the know about what’s coming my way over the next few months.
This week’s batch of films opening on our local circuit are rather ho-hum when judged by their trailers, but next week’s Skyfall, or rather Bond film number 23, is everything a Bond film is supposed to be.
When you watch the three Daniel Craig film trailers together, there is a good sense of the overall story arc and you’ll see why Skyfall is currently cleaning up at the box office.
More about that film next week though; right now, let’s talk about what the trailers are telling us will be coming out for the December holidays and next year.
Peter Jackson shot so much footage for his Hobbit film that he has turned it into a trilogy. The first film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3D) opens here on December 14 and all our favourite elves are back, too. How a 1.9m tall, blue-eyed, blond book character translates into 1.7m foot, dark-haired hobbit is a question only Hollywood can answer.
What’s a December without a Tom Cruise movie, right? This year we’ve got Jack Reacher (December 28).
Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon Levitt overcome time travel continuity faults in Looper (December 14), which has a pretty respectable fresh tomato rating online. Willis reprises his most famous cop role in A Good Day to Die Hard, this time travelling to Russia on February 15 and he’ll reprise his Red role in a sequel on August 22.
Les Miserables (January 18) looks like it is going to be a tear-jerker of note (literally, this is, after all, a musical) and if you are into weepies then the trailer for The Impossible (January 25) will already have you at hello.
Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph (January 25) is about a video arcade game character who decides he’s had enough of being the bad guy and jumps into another game. Why hasn’t anyone ever thought of doing this before? Telling the story of a game character as if he were real? Tron, eat your heart out.
On the totally unreal side is Johnny Depp playing Tonto to Armie Hammer’s The Lone Ranger (June 12) under Gore Verbinski’s direction. The story is told from Tonto’s point of view and this is the first film starring Depp and Helena Bonham Carter that is not directed by Tim Burton.
REMAKES AND NEW SPINS
3D technology is pushing several film companies to re-release classics in the new format. Sometimes it enhances the experience, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Finding Nemo is a total classic, but whether Dory remembers any better in 3D is debatable, we’ll have to wait until Friday to see.
Next year, Stars Wars episodes 2 and 3 will be re-released on October 4 (Attack of the Clones) and October 26 (Revenge of the Sith). Probably because they said they would, because the re-release of the first film showed that the 3D didn’t really make much of a difference to the experience. You either are a Star Wars fan, or you aren’t.
Jurassic Park (May 10) also gets the 3D treatment. Maybe the dinosaurs will really get you this time.
Disney puts their own spin on Hans Christian Anderson’s Snow Queen fable in Frozen, but that’s only in November so there isn’t even a picture to show.
Before then, though, they bring us Oz, the Great and Powerful (March 8). James Franco plays the man who will become the Wizard of Oz, with Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis as the trio of enchantresses who have great plans for him.
Baz Luhrmann makes The Great Gatsby (May 17) his own in 3D, but we don’t know whether the Jay-Z/Kanye West No Church in the Wild song used in the trailer is actually in the film.
SEQUELS
One of the most anticipated sequels slated for a July release is the follow up to JJ Abram’s reboot of Star Trek. A nine-minute first-look at Star Trek Into Darkness will play in about 500 Imax 3D theatres in the US in the middle of December, but local Trekkies are going to have to wait a little while longer.
Also on the sequel trail, expect Kick-Ass 2 – Balls to the Wall to open on the same day here and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is slated for August.
The trailer for Iron Man 3 (May 3) looks epic (not to be confused with the trailer for Fox Animation’s Epic which comes out in June) and filming is finished for Thor 2.
When the new Blu-Ray dvds for Thor 1 hit the shelves in April, look out for new deleted scenes and a sneak peak at all of Marvel’s Phase Two films: Iron Man 3, Thor 2: The Dark World (November 8), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 14), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and The Avengers 2 (2016).
Also in the Marvel universe, James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Girl Interrupted) directs Hugh Jackman as he travels to Japan to train with a samurai in The Wolverine. The black-and-white manga poster is cool and bodes well for the film.
(Gavin Hood isn’t back to direct because he is tackling Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game – November 28).
We can only hope that they show more cars in Fast and the Furious 6 (May 24), but come on, do we really need the Hangover 3 (May 31)?
Despicable Me 2 looks like it’s going to give the minions a bigger showing on July 5 and as for the one we didn’t know we wanted to see – Monster’s University – the prequel to Monster’s Universe, opens on June 21.
ALSO LOOK OUT FOR THE FOLLOWING TRAILERS:
The Heat (April 28): Sandra Bullock has perfected the role of uptight authoritarian figure, so the trailer will have you in stitches.
She is an FBI agent who has to work with Melissa McCarthy’s fat cop and this is basically a buddy cop movie, but with girls.
Now You See Me (June 7): has as a great cast in Jessie Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Michael Caine and Melanie Laurent and you can’t tell from the trailer just exactly how this crew of thieves actually do the deed.