| Date | |
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| Author | DCM |
| Categories | cinema |
Digital Cinema Media’s (DCM) CEO, Simon Rees, looks ahead to the blockbuster season and some of the summer’s upcoming top comedy films.
I’m probably one of the only fans of the first Godzilla remake, released in 1998, which was a re-imagining of the Japanese sea monster film, first released in 1954. Some of us may also remember with nostalgia the popular Godzilla cartoon, but the new Godzilla film, on release in cinemas from 15 May, should reinstate Godzilla as the world’s most famous monster in the same year as it celebrates its 60th anniversary.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Godzilla myth, here’s a quick re-cap: a giant radioactive monster called Godzilla awakens from its slumber to wreak destruction on its creators. The word on the street about the new version is that it features multiple monstrous creatures, so we can expect a lot of destructive action.
Distributed by Warner Bros., the studio has entrusted its first blockbuster of the season to a young British Director, Gareth Edwards, who burst on to the scene with a low budget sci-fi film called Monsters and he’s rightly been rewarded with the Godzilla re-boot. He’s assembled a striking cast that includes Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olson and David Strathairn.
May and June are when summer blockbuster season traditionally gets going and even though there will be a lot of focus on the World Cup in June, there are some big titles to watch out for. Releasing on 22 May, the seventh film in the lucrative X-Men universe, sees original Director Bryan Singer oversee an intriguing time travel plot that brings together both Magnetos (Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen) and both Professor Xaviers (James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart) to change a major historical event.
One of the comedy titles getting a great reaction at agency presentations is A Million Ways to Die in the West, distributed by Universal and directed by Seth MacFarlane. MacFarlane’s last film Ted achieved a gargantuan £30.4m Box Office performance and before he gets round to releasing Ted 2, he has created an all-star comic western, which he also stars in…..Every time I see the trailer I can’t help thinking of another classic, Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974).
A film that looks to cross-over between comedy and action is Marvel’s latest Guardians of the Galaxy. This could be one of the most interesting Marvel titles of all time with Bradley Cooper playing a genetically engineered racoon called Rocket and Vin Diesel playing a tree called Groot.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, meanwhile, follows 2011’s Rise of the Planet of The Apes which grossed over £20m at the UK Box Office. This time around, a group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while lead ape Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his intelligent ape community. British actor Andy Serkis continues his amazing motion-capture work as Caesar.
Finally, my last pick is the follow-up to one of the surprise blockbusters of the 21st century. Transferring a TV series to the big screen and not alienating the core fans has never been easy but the team behind The Inbetweeners managed it with ease and saw the film gross a phenomenal £45m at the UK Box Office. The sequel sees the cast, played brilliantly by Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison, embark on a gap year to Australia.
There is a huge variety of other films to look out for over the summer season serving a range of different audiences including 22 Jump Street, Maleficent, Chef, Edge of Tomorrow and How To Train Your Dragon 2, but I have to admit I’m probably still most excited about the return of a giant reptile...