Empire Magazine has released some new pictures from next year’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier giving us the best looks yet at Cap’s new costume and The Winter Soldier that looks like he jumped straight off the comic page.
Needless to say if you do not know the identity of The Winter Soldier then stop scrolling to look at the shots.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier releases on April 4, 2014.
Christmas time is family time as well as movie time. There were almost too many things to choose from with hobbits, ronin, princesses, aging boxers and Amy Adams making out with Jennifer Lawrence.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug barely beat Frozen to be number one for the third week in a row. The second film in the trilogy has passed $500 million worldwide. Frozen continues to defy the odds and rake in cash taking in $28.8 million in its sixth week of release and is about to cross $250 million domestically.
Among the new releases The Wolf of Wall Street took in $18.5 million and $34.3 million since Christmas Day. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and 47 Ronin disappointed. Combined the two movies made $48 million since Christmas with both having a combined budget of $290 million.
1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $29.8 million/ $190.3 million
2. Frozen- $28.8/ $248.3
3. Anchorman- $20.1/ $83.6
4. American Hustle- $19.5/ $60.0
5. The Wolf of Wall Street- $18.5/ $34.3
6. Saving Mr. Banks- $14.0/ $37.8
7. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty- $13.0/ $25.5
8. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $10.2/ $391.1
9. 47 Ronin- $9.8/ $20.5
10. A Madea Christmas- $7.4/ $43.7
Last year, Peter Jackson returned to Middle-Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and some were disappointed by the lack of movement and story pacing. I enjoyed it thoroughly as you can tell if you clink the link to my review above. After watching the movie last year I began to wonder how they would break up Tolkien’s 300 page novel into a trilogy of three hour films. Upon finishing The Desolation of Smaug it is clear that Jackson has added enough elements to make three films a necessity. Even more so than An Unexpected Journey, liberal changes from the book are here and I am sure that it will upset Tolkien purists, and to them I say: have some fun once in a while.
Desolation of Smaug opens up with a look at Thorin Oakenshield as he enters The Prancing Pony in the town of Bree. He is joined by Gandalf who begins to hatch his plan for the dwarves to take back their home of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. It is a good way to get audiences acclimated with the story of The Hobbit again before jumping back into the adventure.
From then on anyone worried about the slow pacing of the first movie are in for a surprise as we meet Bilbo, Thorin and the company of dwarves still on the run from Azog the Defiler. Desolation does not slow down for the next 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The company makes their way to refuge with Beorn, the skinchanger whose hatred for dwarves is only exceeded by his hatred of orcs and he gives them supplies for their journey ahead which includes the haunted forest of Mirkwood where Bilbo and the dwarves begin to hallucinate and lose their way before they are attacked by giant spiders which will be a good reminder of Shelob for Lord of the Rings fans. Here we see our first glimpses of the ring asserting its power over Bilbo making him more aggressive when a spider comes between him and the shiny, gold piece of evil.
Suddenly, like a rhinestone cowboy, the elves are there to save the day including the new character Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) that many are up in arms about. She wasn’t in the book! Blah, blah, blah. I understand where fans are coming from but I also understand Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens wanting to bring a strong female character into the story (of which there are none in the book). Guess what? It works. I, a fan of the book, am completely fine with Tauriel. In fact, she is one of the best things about the movie. Her scenes with Legolas are some great Elven banter and not once did I scoff at the screen because she was not in the original story.
Yep, that right. Legolas is in The Hobbit as well now. No, he was not in the book but he is the son of Thranduil (Lee Pace), king of Woodland Realm, so he has been added in as a bit of fan service to Lord of the Rings movie fans by making the connection that, even though he was not mentioned in The Hobbit, he may have been involved being the son of an Elven king who was. As with Tauriel, he does add to the movie and even though some may wonder why he is there, it is fun to see him make quips as he dispatches orcs as only he can.
After a thrilling escape from Mirkwood in barrels down a rapid river we meet Bard (Luke Evans) who smuggles the party into Laketown. They are soon discovered and Thorin uses his lineage to convince the Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry) to give him a boat to make their way to the Lonely Mountain. Here is where the party is split up with Fili, Oin and Bofur staying behind to tend to a wounded Kili. The rest of the dwarves and Bilbo make their way to the Lonely Mountain where they find the secret door into their lost home.
Where is Gandalf during all of this fun? Well he is off to Dol Goldur to investigate the mystery of the Necromancer. He discovers that the Nazgul have been released from their prison and an orc army led by Azog has been gathering at the long-dead castle. He is confronted by the Necromancer, who reveals his true self and imprisons Gandalf as the orcs make their march toward the Lonely Mountain.
Easily the best part of the film comes when Bilbo is sent into the heart of the mountain to find the Arkenstone in the ocean of dwarven treasure and awakens Smaug. This leads to a wonderful back and forth between Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch which, for this Sherlock fan, was so much of a good thing. Cumberbatch proves he owns anything he is in with his portrayal of Smuag which is way more than a voice over. He was motion captured for facial features and is a wonder to behold. How amazing Andy Serkis was as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy ten years ago, it is the same here with Cumberbatch.
We are left with a cliffhanger ending that had audible gasps in the theater I was in. That is how quickly Deolation of Smaug went. No one wanted it to end even after almost three hours. We still have so much more to cover with Bard’s confrontation with Smaug and the Battle of Five Armies. Where I was once worried about The Hobbit being stretched into three movies, I am now glad it has been. Peter Jackson has made a lot of changes and adjustments including bringing in new characters and adding from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings but it all adds up to a win here. I completely understand if some can not get past the altercations (of which there were many in The Lord of the Rings as well, let’s not forget). I can and actually welcome some of them with open arms and am more than ready to go There and Back Again next year.
Ron Burgundy returned after nine years but his party was spoiled by a hobbit. Anchorman 2 opened to $26.7 million and $40 million since its release last Wednesday. That is not the huge opening expected but it will be a big hit with a budget of only $50 million.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug stayed in the top spot after dropping almost 60% with $31.4 million. After what some thought was a soft opening, Peter Jackson’s second film in The Hobbit trilogy is sitting on a worldwide gross of $403 million.
American Hustle opened nationwide with a lot of talk about Oscar nominations for Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams to $19.1 million while Thor: The Dark World crossed $200 million domestically.
1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $31.4 million/ $127.5 million
2. Anchorman 2- $26.7/ $40.0
3. Frozen- $19.1/ $191.5
4. American Hustle- $19.1/ $20.2
5. Saving Mr. Banks- $9.3/ $9.9
6. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $8.7/ $371.7
7. A Madea Christmas- $8.5/ $28.3
8. Walking with Dinosaurs- $7.3/ $7.3
9. Dhoom 3- $3.3/ $3.3
10. Thor: The Dark World- $1.3/ $200.7
No more speculation. No more rumors. Paul Rudd is Ant-Man. Marvel released the official statement confirming that Brian Fantana himself will be the next superhero in the Marvel universe.
“Marvel’s “Ant-Man” has found its hero in Paul Rudd, who will star in the new film from director Edgar Wright hitting theaters July 31, 2015!“
The casting had come down to Rudd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt but JGL seemed to go in a different direction when it was announced that he and Dark Knight screenwriter David Goyer were working on a Sandman adaptation. Personally, I think this is another casting home run by Marvel.
Kevin Feige, Marvel’s movie godfather, had this to say about Rudd:
“When Edgar Wright came to us with the idea of Paul Rudd, we felt a huge sense of relief because the first step in creating any Marvel Studios film is finding the right star. We knew early on that we had found the right person in Paul. When he not only agreed to do it but became as enthusiastic as any actor we’d ever met with about doing the work, we knew we’d found the right guy. We couldn’t be more excited for our audiences to see what he’s going to do to bring Ant-Man to life.”
Director Edgar Wright threw some fuel on the fire saying that Rudd was indeed Ant-Man, but we did not know which Ant-Man giving pause to whether he will play Hank Pym or Scott Lang. I think this is Wright having fun with the comic fans and it will end up being Pym.
Hiccup and Toothless are back in How To Train Your Dragon 2. Five years have passed and dragons and Vikings are patrolling the skies when Hiccup meets a new Dragon Rider with a huge secret (which is given away in the preview for some reason). They must use all their abilities to save the dragon world from a new threat.
The huge battle has a Lord of the Rings feel to it. I can not wait to see it biggified.
How To Train Your Dragon 2 releases on June 13, 2014.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was one of the big surprises of 2011. It hit big at the box office and rebooted the nearly 50 year old franchise. Next year we will get to witness the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which takes place 15 years after the events of the first movie. Humanity has survived the plague and are at odds with the genetically created apes led by Caesar.
Andy Serkis reprises his role as Caesar and Gary Oldman is the voice of the human opposition. Keri Russell and new John Conner Jason Clarke also star.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes releases on July 18, 2014.
Schmidt and Jenko are back and have been moved across the street. They have a new location and a new case where they head back to college and grow apart as they accept their new undercover roles a bit too much.
Don’t forget this is a red-band trailer. So if you have young children around…earmuffs.
22 Jump Street releases on June 13, 2014.
Check out the first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and realize that this is the very definition of a teaser. Not a lot is known about the sci-fi picture save for the short synopsis:
“A group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.”
Of course Matthew McConaughey could read the ingredients to a bag of Sun Chips and it would probably turn me on.
Interstellar releases November 7, 2014.
Bilbo and company could not match the opening of An Unexpected Journey but still opened huge worldwide. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opened to $73.7 million down from last year’s $84.7 million but should not be cause for worry. Many thought An Unexpected Journey’s opening was disappointing and it went on to gross $1 billion worldwide. After one weekend Desolation of Smaug is sitting at $205 million with worldwide totals.
Tyler Perry released another Madea movie. This time a Christmas tale which I am sure involved her slapping kids, being funny and one of her family dealing with an abusive husband who ends up learning the true meaning of love just in time for the holidays. I swear I just made that up so if I guessed the plot of it I am sorry. Bringing in $16 million was on the low end for Madea but it was up against a lot of competition.
1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $73.7 million/ $73.7 million
2. Frozen- $22.1/ $164.3
3. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas- $16.0/ $16.0
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $13.1/ $356.9
5. Thor: The Dark World- $2.7/ $198.1
6. Out of the Furnace- $2.3/ $9.4
7. Delivery Man- $1.8/ $27.9
8. Philomena- $1.7/ $11.0
9. The Book Thief- $1.6/ $14.8
10. Homefront- $1.6/ $18.4