2014 was a decent year for film, emphasis on decent. Ticket sales were the lowest they’ve been in years and the Sony hacking scandal didn’t help much towards the end of the year. The films that did deliver, were of course great, but we’re living in a ever-growing world of superheroes, sequels and remakes – a broken record argument now – with very little originality in between. And while they’re not always bad for business (Expect Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens to KILL IT next year in December), it does have a detrimental effect on the industry. 2014 isn’t without its highlights – you can read Alex’s Top 10 Films of the Year here (they were splendid) – Guardians of the Galaxy especially being surprisingly good, and so many riveting individual performances (even if their respective films weren’t up to the same standards) that make the Academy Awards genuinely hard to call this year.
So will things improve for 2015? It seems very likely. In the UK we still have some of the Oscar hopefuls crossing over from last year in the form of Birdman, Whiplash & Co. Then of course we have our usual onslaught of superhero blockbusters (more to come on that later) as well as re-visiting a galaxy far, far away. We say goodbye to a man who started the fast and furious franchise and welcome back the world’s most infamous secret agent. In turn, there are simply so many exciting prospects for 2015 that it’s hard to mention them all and it seems as though we’ve already accepted the fact it’ll be a great year for film. Here’s a look at what to look out for in 2015.
The Big Ones
Let’s just get this one out of the way; the ones we know about, the ones everyone knows about. These are the blockbusters. Big money, big stars, big everything. We have the final instalment of The Hunger Games franchise with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. We’re set to usher in the new generation of Star Wars films with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. Tom Cruise returns for his iconic role in Mission: Impossible 5. Then of course there’s the onslaught of superhero films. The whole Superhero movie scene is starting to get a little over-saturated with Marvel and DC going toe-toe. Marvel are currently in the lead simply by starting their project sooner than DC, but come 2017 DC could have romped into the lead, or the world could be seriously sick of the superhero film generation and it could all be catastrophic for them, but that’s doubtful. Regardless, 2015 will be the year of Marvel as they look to have 3 projects coming out in the form of the highly anticipated Avengers: Age of Ultron and the still quite talked about Ant-Man. The final film of their 2015 trilogy is the one to really mention (even if it’s not part of the MCU):
The Fantastic Four Reboot Cast left to right: Miles Teller (Mr Fantastic), Kate Mara (Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (Human Torch), Jamie Bell (The Thing).
Marvel’s Least Hyped 2015 Project: The Fantastic Four: The one people don’t seem to know about is the under the radar reboot of The Fantastic Four. While little is known about the project, it was in need of a reboot (mostly due to the unavailability of Chris Evans now). 20th Century Fox, however, inspire little hope for the film due to their hit-and-miss record in the superhero world. Yes, X-Men: Days of Future Past was a success, but this is a studio that also wants to turn the very Rated-R Deadpool movie into a PG-13. Casting is also an issue, with Fox going the Amazing Spiderman route and hiring much younger actors. For a project that has had many setbacks and negativity surrounding it, it grows more worrisome when ABSOLUTELY NOTHING has been revealed/released about the film, even with a scheduled August 2015 release date. Who knows, perhaps this is all apart of the master plan, this could be Fox having an ace up their sleeve…or they could be backtracking because they realise they’ve seriously messed up again. They could want to brush it all under the rug and hope people forget they were so ambitious, especially since they announced a 2017 Fantastic Four sequel release date too.
Release Date: August 7th, 2015.
The Biopics
Another Hollywood cash-cow is the ever-growing Biopic genre. We all know it well. A really famous actor takes on the role of another really famous person from our history and people either think the casting is inspired or just the worst thing ever, but it doesn’t matter because once we’ve watched the film we think we know EVERYTHING about that person’s life. So maybe not to that extreme, but you get the point. Thing is, we still love biopics, we love them when they’re done right and we love to hate them when they’re done very, very badly. 2015 will gives us many chances to have one of these emotions as we find out whether we end up with a J. Edgar or a My Left Foot. We’ve got the much talked about Elton John film Rocketman starring Tom Hardy. Don Cheadle taking on (and even partly funding) the story of Miles Davis and yet another Steve Jobs film this time by Danny Boyle starring (potentially) Michael Fassbender. But there are three to be particularly excited about:
In The Heart of The Sea: Chris Hemsworth has four films out in 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Vacation, Blackhat and In The Heart of The Sea. Avengers is likely to be Hemsworth’s most successful film for obvious reasons, but the hunky Australian (man-crush here) has struggled outside of his Thor role to convince the world he’s a genuine leading man. He’s still quite new to the game so there’s plenty of time, and his 2013 role in Rush showed promising signs that he’s getting there. In The Heart of The Sea is the dark tale of a crew from a whaling ship getting shipwrecked 1000 miles from land for 90 days and going to drastic measures to survive. What’s more intriguing than the story is the fact Hemsworth will be teaming up with Rush director Ron Howard once again for the biographical drama which boasts a strong cast and is yet another chance to Hemsworth to shine under Howard’s direction.
Release Date: March 12th, 2015.
Straight Outta Compton: We’ve had films about Dylan, Cash, Hendrix and most recently James Brown, but 2015 sees the release of Straight Outta Compton – the rise of N.W.A and their influence on Rap music, causing an up-rise in the music industry. You won’t have to be a huge fan of the music or even know much about to group to find this upcoming biopic fascinating. N.W.A have a polarised history and it’s a story that deserves a place on the big screen alongside the other icons that already have their film. This project initially took its time to get off the ground, but everything seems to be slowly fitting into place with Boyz In The Hood director John Singleton at the helm and Ice Cube and Dr. Dre on board as producers, which should give the script and film some authenticity. Casting sees a lot of young up-and-comers taking on the roles of the larger than life icons, but an interesting note to take on is that Ice Cube’s own son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. will portray his father, which could be seen as a genius piece of casting, or horrible error, depending on which way it plays out.
Release Date: August 7th, 2015
Love and Mercy: Paul Dano has spent many years honing his craft in some wonderful films. He’s become a hero of sorts in the indie comedy world with some turns in the likes of Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks and Gigantic. So Dano will lend his hand for another music biopic as he stars alongside John Cusack in portraying Beach Boys co-founder, Brian Wilson. Love and Mercy will focus on Wilson’s successful early years and troubling later years (with Kusack playing the older incarnation of Wilson) and looks set to be another chance for Dano to shine (as well as Cusack too of course). How daring the film will be, with Wilson still alive to see it, even giving his blessing, is yet to be seen but it’ll be interesting to see Paul Giammati play Eugene Landy, Wilson’s controversial psychologist and ‘business partner’ who many people feel manipulated and took advantage of Wilson during his time under his care. Love and Mercy doesn’t have a set release date as yet, but expect it to hit theatres either side of Summer.
Release Date: 2015.
Hidden Gems & The Indies
In a film year where the headlines will be dominated by potential recording breaking Blockbusters (Star Wars could well break Avatar‘s all-time box office record), you’ve got to keep your eyes out for the quieter films. The films that look to win us over with their fantastic stories rather than style and flashiness. Chris Hemsworth’s Blackhat is one to watch since it’s particularly relevant in the light of the recent Sony hacking scandal. Tim Burton and Jonny Depp are joining forces once again for Mortdecai which could be a surprising hit. Ben Stiller teams up with Noah Baumbach again alongside Naomi Watts in While We’re Young about a middle-aged couple currently struggling with their relationship(Read Alex’s review here) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be taking on the larger than life story of Philippe Petit and his 1974 daring high-wire walk between the Twin Towers (another Biopic, I know). It’s impossible to name all of the hidden gems simply because we don’t know what will be or not, but here are some particular films that could leave a lasting impression:
Midnight Special: A film you’re unlikely to have heard about but you should have. Acclaimed Writer/Director Jeff Nichols is one of the most exciting young directors in Hollywood right now and has a knack of creating some pretty special, bitterly under-hyped films. The young director has a strong, loyal following and hopefully it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the world comes to praise his large stories that often focus on the smaller details in life, most notably family. Nichols will be teaming up with actor Michael Shannon once again in this story of a father and son who go on the run after discovering the son has special powers. Hopefully Midnight Special can be a smash-hit for Jeff Nichols, one that will take him one step closer to the stardom that he deserves. You’ll have to wait until November though to see the film, so you might as well familiarise yourself with his other work – Mud and Take Shelter come with high recommendations in the meantime.
Release Date: November, 25th 2015.
Chappie:
Try watching the first 30 seconds of Neill Blomkamp‘s forthcoming sci-fi action Chappie trailer without getting a strange giddy excitement in your stomach. During the first moments of seeing the eponymous robot character of the film you get a sense that this film is going to be special. Simply put, Chappie as a robot looks stunning. But seriously, would you expect anything less from Blomkamp? He has a knack of gifting us with mesmerising visuals in his films. The film though, looks like a set up for heartbreak, because we know this story already, yet we’re suckers for it. Obvious comparisons are being made to 1980’s cult classic Short Circuit, but this is a clear upgrade. Bringing in regular collaborator Sharlto Copley and what looks like a villainous role for Hugh Jackman, Chappie looks set to steal our hearts and hopefully critically acclaim too. Robots have generally had a tough time of it in films of late, generally being plain and boring but Blomkamp might have managed to make them fun, sweet and light-hearted again, and because of that we cannot wait to see Chappie come March.
Release Date: March, 4th 2015.
Loitering with Intent: In a year that’s going to be dominated by the big studios with their big franchise films and the same big star actors who share the roles amongst themselves, it wouldn’t go amiss to give someone else a chance for a change. So Ivan Martin and Michael Godere, two lesser known actors have decided to write and star in their own screenplay about that very same idea. In the screenplay, the two struggling actor friends manage to convince a producer they have a killer script (which they don’t) and end up going to one of the pairs’ sister’s home in order to write the made-up script in 10 days. In between everything they end up involved in love stories, with Marisa Tomei and Sam Rockwell popping up too. 2015 as a year, with the big franchise releases coming up, couldn’t feel more appropriate for Loitering with Intent and with an April release date this potential indie gem could land home its message just before the summer onslaught begins.
Release Date: January, 16th 2015.
Appropriate Behaviour: 2015 is an exciting year for many reasons, one of which could be the emergence of female auteur Desiree Akhavan,with her film Appropriate Behaviour. Named as director with a bright future alongside her collaborator, Ingrid Jungermann, in 2012 for their web series The Slope, Appropriate Behaviour marks Akhavan’s first steps onto the big screen and if all goes well could be the first film in a prolific career. The film follows the story of a twenty-something Persian-American New Yorker (played by Akhavan too) trying to find her way and discover herself in the City after breaking up with her girlfriend. The setup itself as a whole isn’t exactly an original one, and while it could be riddled with clichés, a self-discovery story always has the chance to give a different perspective and still seem fresh, and from the trailer itself, there seems like the potential for just that. You don’t have to wait long for this one with a January 18th release date.
Release Date: January, 16th 2015.
The Comedies
Not every film we’re looking forward to in 2015 has to be a mega-Blockbuster or heartfelt drama, sometimes it could just be a simple comedy. We can’t discuss 2015 without the exciting prospect of all the comedies that look to be on offer. We’ll be getting sequels to two surprise hits in the form of Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (minus John Cusack but plus Adam Scott) and Ted 2. Will Ferell looks set to get back on track working alongside current hot-property who can seemingly do no wrong, Kevin Hart, in Get Hard. Dirty Grandpa with Zac Effron and Robert De Niro sounds like the type of film that could go on either side of the fence in a big way, but there’s one film for sure that should be the most exciting:
Daddy’s Home: Remember The Other Guys? Remember how Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell had surprisingly good chemistry and it was a huge revelation and success, well luckily for us all they’re teaming up again in Daddy’s Home, which sees Ferrell playing a mild-mannered radio executive who has recently become the step-father to two children. Things go awry when their real father comes back into the picture, played of course by Mark Walhberg. Even if Ferrell’s character sounds just like his character from The Other Guys, it doesn’t matter, because we get some more of Wahlberg and Ferrell and that’s really the big selling point. Ferrell’s credentials speak for themselves and Wahlberg is really quite the diverse actor who has a serious knack for comedy even though his speciality is the action genre. Ferrell had a relatively quiet 2014, aside from the huge success of The Lego Movie – which he lent his voice to many of the characters – and Wahlberg focussed more on his action side of things, so a big comedy hit for the both of them would be great to see. And with the addition of Get Hard for Ferrell and Ted 2 for Wahlberg, they both look to have a big, hilarious year ahead of them.
Release Date: 2015.
The British Imports
I couldn’t not talk about the films to look out for in 2015 without my beloved home nation. And what a year it set to be for British cinema. Perhaps not great films in a cinematic feat, but successful financially none-the-less. We have a little known teen Horror, Don’t Hang Up, which primarily sounds like Scream meets Duel/Joyride (Roadkill). The period drama (we do love ’em!) Far From The Maddening Crowd will be coming out towards the middle of the year. And then we have Fifty Shades of Grey – a shared American production (so both countries have to take the blame on this one) – which will be released on Valentines Day (sorry, fellas). The big one though, is also the most exciting:
Spectre: Now here in the UK we’re proud of our own hits. Over the years there’s been one constant hit for UK cinemas: the Bond Franchise, which has been going steady since the ’60s. Now Spectre is of course Sony financed, but it’s a British story, set and filmed in Britain, spearheaded by a British director, starring a British actor and made up by a mostly British cast. So it’s safe to say we’re calling this one ours. Bond’s last outing was a monumental hit. Skyfall is currently the highest grossing film of all time in the UK. I remember it, it felt like it was in the cinema for decades. It was there for a REALLY long time, seriously, it never ended, people just kept going to see it. The question is, can Spectre top it? All signs suggest yes, but the recent Sony hack and the threats to release the script could put slight pressure on the film to do well. Hopefully that won’t be the case and Spectre can live up to all the hype that currently surrounds it and it can be apart of what should be, not only financially, but generally all-round one hell of a year for the Film industry.
Release Date: November, 6th 2015.
Here’s to 2015 and all the great film-y goodness that it may bring to us.
Recent Comments