Now
that the summer 2012 season is over I thought it would be a fun idea
to make some predictions for how next year would pan out. I'll come
back to this post this time next year and see how good my powers of
foresight are!
Grading:
HIT > PRETTY GOOD > OKAY-ish > NOT GOOD > BOMB
Oz:
The Great and Powerful
Sam
Raimi (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
I
don't know, are the Oz books really that popular anymore? Sure
there's Wicked on Broadway but that was a clever post-modern
reworking of story, this seems too earnest. I can see it doing
respectable business but don't think it will be the franchise starter
Disney want it to be.
Carrie
Kimberly
Pierce (director)
Prediction:
BIG HIT
Even
though Brian De Palma's 1976 version is considered pretty definitive
I can see critics and audiences liking this. Chloe Moretz is a great
choice to the play the lead and I'm expecting an equally great
performance from Julianne Moore. Also, there's far too few female
directors in Hollywood so it's good to see Kimberly Pierce taking the
reins on this.
Now
You See Me
Louis
Leterrier (director)
Prediction:
SUPRISE HIT OF THE YEAR
No
seriously, I think this will be the sleeper hit of the year. I really
do. Sure, it hasn't got any big name cast members but it has got a
truly fantastic set-up - a group of magicians pull off bank heists -
that I can't believe someone hasn't made it already. As long as
Leterrier keeps his directing in check and doesn't make an empty CGI
spectacle like Incredible Hulk or Clash of the Titans
we should be in for treat.
Jack
the Giant Killer
Bryan
Singer (director)
Prediction:
BOMB
Sorry
I can't see this doing well. The story of Jack and the beanstalk
really didn't need a gritty “Lord of the Rings” reworking.
I don't think Nicholas Hoult has the right charisma to be a full on
leading man. Plus, I wish Singer would get back to doing smaller
films like The Apt Pupil and
The Usual Suspects.
G.I.
Joe: Retaliation (now in 3D)
Jon
Chu (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
Another
film that got pushed back from summer 2012 was the GI Joe sequel.
It's a shame because I think it probably would have actually put up a
decent fight against The Amazing Spider-man. Apparently, the
makers have taken the time to convert it into 3D (which makes me less
interested) and possibly added some more Channing Tatum (who has had
a great 2012).
Evil
Dead
Fede
Alvarez (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
To
be honest, I'd far rather an Evil
Dead 4 with Bruce Campbell so
my judgment is quite clouded on this. It seems so sacrilegious
to remake such an important horror milestone. I understand the makers
are going for a different feel – new characters, serious tone, drug
metaphor – but I think most people will be fairly disinterested in
this.
Oblivion
Joseph
Kosinski (director)
Prediction:
PRETTY GOOD
One
of the few films out in summer 2013 that isn't a franchise. I think
this will do pretty good business but won't be a runaway hit. Tom
Cruise still seems to pull in the crowds (see Mission Impossible:
Ghost Protocol) and I think Kosinski's a great visualist (perhaps
even an heir to Ridley Scott?) who didn't get enough respect for his
work on Tron: Legacy.
Iron
Man 3
Shane
Black (director)
Prediction:
PRETTY GOOD
I'm
sure Marvel's run of successful movies can't last forever – can it?
The Avengers was great but a lot of that was down to Joss
Whedon's assured writing and directing. By comparison Shane Black
seems a bit of a “wild card”, I don't know how suited he is to
the material. Still the Iron Man character has a lot of popularity so
it's never going to totally flop.
Star
Trek Into Darkness
J.
J. Abrams (director)
Prediction:
HIT
I'll
admit the lack of colon in the title has me worried but the cast
seems great. Benedict Cumberbatch (crazy name, crazy guy) is very
“in” right now and it's great to see Peter Weller getting some
big screen work. My only request is: can we give Anton Yelchin a
proper 'mop top' hair cut to play Chekov?
Fast
& Furious 6
Justin
Lin (director)
Prediction:
PRETTY GOOD
I
can't see this film topping the surprise success of Fast Five but
I still think this will do solid numbers at the box office and
they'll make Fast & Furious 7: Mission to Moscow not
long after. Vin Diesel seems to be having a great time wringing every
last drop of money out of this series and the Riddick
movies.
The
Hangover Part III
Todd
Phillips (director/screenplay)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
I'll
admit I've never seen any of The Hangover movies. The central
plot just seemed so generic and lazy. Maybe I'll give them a go at
some point in the future because I do like Zach Galifianakis'
'Between Two Ferns' series. Anyway despite never seeing them I can
tell from the reviews of Part II that audiences are getting a
little weary of the concept. Pulling out a sequel so soon after the
last one seems like a mistake.
After
Earth
M.
Night Shyamalan (director)
Prediction:
NOT GOOD/BOMB
I'm
getting slightly Waterworld vibes off this one – another big
budget movie about a post apocalyptic earth. I feel sorry for
Shyamalan, he can't seem to catch a break from critics, but I don't
think this is going to be his comeback. In fact, I have a weird
feeling it might completely bomb and lose a lot of money.
Man
of Steel
Zack
Snyder (director)
Prediction:
BIGGEST HIT OF SUMMER
I
think this will likely be the big hit of the summer. Everybody loves
Superman and unlike the previous film – Superman Returns –
this feels like a brand new exciting take on the character. I loved
the Terence Malick-esque trailer and I think Christopher Nolan's
influence on the film will be heavily felt.
Monsters
University
Dan
Scanlon (director)
Prediction:
PRETTY GOOD
I
kind of wish that Pixar would go back to making just original films
but I understand that they've got to go “back to the well” every
now and then. At least they've placed the characters in a completely
new setting for this one and it hasn't got much competition from
other children's films.
World
War Z
Marc
Forster (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
I
think everyone is aware that this film has had a troubled production
history and they seem to be doing a lot of reshoots at the moment to
try and “fix” it. Films like this rarely do well but I think
given that zombies are still very much “en vogue” it will pull in
decent audiences. However the expense of the reshoots will probably
mean it will only just break even.
R.I.P.D.
Robert
Schwentke (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
Ryan
Reynolds seems to have gotten a bit of critical respect back after
his 2011 flops (Green Lantern and The Change-Up) so I
think this won't completely bomb but I think that audiences
unfamiliarity with the comic book it's based on will stop it from
doing big business.
The
Lone Ranger
Gore
Verbinski (director)
Prediction:
NOT GOOD/BOMB
I
love the concept for this – that Tonto is the hero and the Lone
Ranger is a buffoon – but I think audiences are tired of Johnny
Depp just doing over-the-top impressions rather than actually acting.
Again, I don't think this is a franchise starter for Disney.
Pacific
Rim (now in 3D)
Guillermo
del Toro (director)
Prediction:
SURPRISE BOMB OF THE YEAR
Yep,
I think this will be the surprise bomb of the year. I'm sorry, I love
Del Toro and I think I'll love this movie – it sounds like a cool
riff on Godzilla – but I
have a sneaking suspicion that it will flop at the box office and
only become a cult classic a few years later. I think audiences will
think it sounds too much like Transformers
or Battleship.
The
Wolverine
James
Mangold (director)
Prediction:
OKAY-ish
I
was really pumped for this when Darren Aronofsky was attached but
since he dropped out my interest has cooled. Mangold's a good
director (I absolutely love Copland) but I can't see him
making anything spectacular with this. Also, the last Wolverine
movie was really quite bad movie – I don't think people have
forgotten that.
300:
Rise of an Empire
Noam
Murro (director)
Prediction:
NOT GREAT
It's
so long since the original film came out (okay, only six years) but I
think cinema has moved on from that over-stylised look – even the
Spartacus TV show has been cancelled now. People didn't seem
that interested in seeing Immortals in 2011 and I think this
will do about the same numbers as that or maybe even less.
RED
2
Dean
Parisot (director)
Prediction:
NOT GREAT
RED
was a decent little movie but I think the “old age mercenaries”
thing is getting a bit tired now. Expendables 2 showed that
there's not much more to be done with the sub-genre. They need to
have a really good story to have any chance of making some money on
this.
RoboCop
Jose
Padilha (director)
Prediction:
THIS ONE I GENUINELY CAN'T PREDICT
Again,
like Evil Dead, Robocop is a film that's very close to my
heart. I'd even suggest that it's my favourite film of all time. I
want to say that it will flop but I can't tell if that's just because
I don't want it made (seriously, has someone just bought all of Paul
Verhoeven's back catalogue – when the Hollow Man remake?). It has
got a great cast but I've seen a lot of critically praised foreign
director trip up on their first American debut.
What do you guys think?
