First up on our topic list is the upcoming summer movie season, which kicks off in just a couple of weeks with the arrival of a 800-pound gorilla, err, Spider-Man 3. Early reviews from the Tokyo premiere are ecstatic. Since Spider-Man 2 outperformed the first one, how do you think the latest will match up?
By the end of August, pundits are predicting that we’ll have experienced the industry’s biggest summer ever. There are a lot of other returning juggernauts, including the latest Pirates, Harry Potter, Ocean's, Bourne, Fantastic Four and the pseudo sequel Evan Almighty (named for Steve Carell’s goofy news man, last seen in Bruce Almighty). It's a lot of movies with numbers at the end of them, but they also seem to be titles people will want to go see. Unlike a lot of summers, this one just feels huge. If reality lives up to the hype, then the third time really is the charm for most of these franchises (or the 5th in Potter's case). We've posted some of the more high profile ones, but how do you feel about all these sequels?
If not a sequel, what would you predict to be the breakout? Knocked Up -- about a slacker who impregnates an E! correspondent -- doesn’t sound all that promising at first. Star Seth Rogen is probably Seth Who? to most filmgoers. But this movie, co-starring Grey's Anatomy's appealing Katherine Heigl, has been forecast as the season’s upcoming 40-Year-Old Virgin, which makes sense since Virgin writer-director Judd Apatow is the creative force behind it. Advance reviews from the festival circuit (check out our glowing Variety review here) have been phenomenal. If you've seen it, post a comment and let us know what you thought.
Also getting a lot of buzz is Michael Bay's Transformers. The '80s cartoon has its own legion of fans, and the live-action teasers and trailers have been impressive. Add in the positive reaction from ShoWest, where exhibitors were shown an extended reel, and the fact that it's not a sequel (an adaptation, yes, but this doesn't look like the old boxy Optimus Prime), and this could end up being the heavyweight contender.
Other possible mega hits of the summer…John Travolta as a fat woman in the musical remake of Hairspray (which received a 5-minute standing ovation at ShoWest), Pixar’s latest about a Parisian rodent in Ratatouille, or maybe Adam Sandler and Kevin James as manly men posing as a married couple in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
More details on these and other movies in future posts, and in our soon-to-be-launched summer spotlight site. But let us know what you are (or aren’t) looking forward to, and what else you’d like to hear about in our blog. Or, if you've got a specific movie question, shoot it over. We, too, know what it's like to think, I've seen that guy in some other movie...? Or, where have I heard that trailer music before? We're here for those, too!
