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Title:
Tropic Thunder
Stars:
Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.
Studio:
DreamWorks Distribution
Plot:
While shooting a big-budget war movie, a group of actors (Stiller, Black, Downey Jr., and others) are forced to become soldiers in a real-life conflict.
Buzz:
Want to get people to forget about Owen Wilson dropping out of this project? Easy, just put the formerly troubled Robert Downey Jr. in some eyebrow-raising make up, create a cameo that will potentially revive a star's career, spread around a now-standard red-band trailer, and generate some last-minute controversy and suddenly Pineapple Express seems so PG-13.
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Title:
The Dark Knight
Stars:
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
Studio:
Turner Network Television (TNT)
Plot:
The Caped Crusader (Bale) teams ups with Gotham's Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) to take on the city's newest villain -- The Joker (Ledger).
Buzz:
Capitalizing on one of the most effective online viral campaigns of all time, it's no wonder theaters are piling on additional screenings (with 3am & 6am showtimes!?) and estimating an opening weekend north of $130 million. Nolan's previous Batman gave the familiar franchise a much needed ka-blam by ditching the vivid Technicolor and rubber cod pieces for softer sepia tones and a beefed-up Bale. Now, we've got a new Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhaal), a wicked new Joker (Ledger, in one of his two final roles) and more websites than we can keep track of (Gotham Cable News, Remembering Gina and Why So Serious? to name a few). With apologies to Iron Man, Hancock and The Incredible Hulk (don't want to get him angry), this will likely be the superhero movie event of the summer.
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Title:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Stars:
Matt Lanter, Nika Futterman, Tom Kane
Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot:
Filling the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, this animated tale chronicles the on-going intragalactic battle involving the Jedis of the Republic and the battle droids of the Trade Federation.
Buzz:
Warner Bros. releases this kid-friendly SW filler as the studio's Dark Knight prepares to eclipse the original Skywalker classic as the #2 box-office champ of all time. We love irony more than animation, but that doesn't mean diehards won't line up for some further Clone Wars backstory, no matter how much Harry Knowles hated it.
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Title:
Mirrors
Stars:
Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart
Studio:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Plot:
An ex-cop (Sutherland) and his family are the target of a evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.
Buzz:
This unspeakable evil found a crack in Fox's summer schedule, and while I think Alexandre Aja's latestassault on the senses might come and go faster than an episode of "24," the movie's best bet for traction with late-season audiences might be this boundary-pushing red-band trailer. Click on it only if you want to see Amy Smart pull apart her face.
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Title:
Pineapple Express
Stars:
Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
After mega-stoner Dale Denton (Rogen) witnesses a corrupt cop commit a murder, he and his dealer (Franco) hit the road in an attempt to outrun the squad of police officers who want them dead.
Buzz:
M.I.A.'s incredible single "Paper Planes" is one of the many amazing components of P.E.'s redband trailer, an instant Internet phenomenon and the first testament we have to the rather brilliant bag of talent that is director David Gordon Green (making his big-studio debut), co-stars Seth Rogen (who co-wrote/exec-produced with his crony Evan Goldberg) and James Franco (taking a much-needed comedic turn), and producer Judd Apatow (who can safely put Walk Hard behind him). Add hottie Amber Heard, Bill Hader (who we think is playing a cop ... again), Gary Cole, and Rosie Perez to the mix, trim the leaves and stems, and keep the marketing on high until August, and you have Superbad's raunchier big brother ...
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Title:
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Stars:
Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Plot:
In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick (Fraser) and Alex O'Connell (Ford) unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin (Li) -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard (Yeoh) centuries ago.
Buzz:
We never thought we'd see Stephen Sommers as an artiste, but when you replace him with Rob Cohen, he starts looking a little like Coppola, don't you think? Even with Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh on board, this feels like one expensive pay-per-view flick (okay, okay, the first trailer looks cool). Rachel Weisz weisz-ly dropped out, leaving poor Maria Bello to replace her. We hope Ms. History of Violence gets a nice down payment and a call from David Cronenberg soon. As for Mr. Fraser -- doesn't he have a sitcom deal yet? His summer of love up on the big screen can't last.
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Title:
Mamma Mia!
Stars:
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Plot:
In an attempt to suss out her father's identity, a bride-to-be (Seyfried) invites three likely candidates to her wedding, resulting in a wild familial encounter that incorporatesthe hits of ABBA.
Buzz:
Mamma Mia! / Here we go again / An-o-ther / Musical a-dapta-tion! / Mamma Mia! / Will folks show again? / Why, why? / Maybe Streep can make it happen!As expected, Amanda Seyfried (can you ask for an awesomer new It Girl?) and company stormed Europe last week, where they dazzled audiences and danced away with a few million dollars. In a femme-friendly year for movies, look for this fairy tale to register on this side of the Atlantic. As deals for Seyfried roll in these next few weeks (we imagine), catch her next in Jennifer's Body, Diablo Cody's Juno follow-up!
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Title:
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Stars:
America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn
Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Plot:
Best friends Lena (Bledel), Carmen (Ferrera), Bridget (Lively) and Tibby (Tamblyn) -- all of whom are having different experiences during their first year of college -- reunite in a Grecian seaside town in order to locate their missing pair of magical jeans.
Buzz:
Hardcore fans will want to know this sequel is actually an adaptation of the fourth book in the amazingly popular series, not the second. And if you're wondering how the producers got Rory Gilmore, Joan of Arcadia, Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty to reteam, the answer's simple -- contractual requirements. The Emmy-bound Ferrera was none too pleased, we hear, and we can't imagine the rest relish playing youthful college freshmen; only Lively is age-appropriate, and she has a new CW series to focus on. Still, Sanaa Hamri, of the wildly underappreciated rom-com Something New, is at the helm, giving all those Trav-Pants-ers a glimmer of hope.
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Title:
Step Brothers
Stars:
Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly
Studio:
Columbia Pictures
Plot:
Two spoiled adult men (Ferrell and Reilly) are pulled into a new sibling rivalry after their respective single parents get hitched.
Buzz:
The formula didn't work for The Brothers Solomon last fall, but Will Arnett + Will Forte ≠ John C. Reilly and the is-he-or-is-he-not-still-popular Will Ferrell, who wrote this screenplay with director Adam McKay (he of Anchorman and Talladega Nights fame). The red band trailer proves this will be much better than Semi-Pro and Walk Hard, and while this movie marks the end of Ferrell and McKay's three-picture deal with Sony, we all know that Anchorman 2 will be made at the studio. But there's still a chance that Ferrell could go down with this one, just like fellow "SNL"ers Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers experienced with their most recent projects.
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Title:
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Stars:
Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem
Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Plot:
Two girlfriends (Hall and Johansson) on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter (Bardem), fully unaware that his ex-wife (Cruz), with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
Buzz:
Hey, did you hear that Woody Allen has made a fun, breezy, holiday postcard of a movie, one in which Rebecca Hall reunites with her Prestige castmate, then outperforms her? That's the report from Cannes; however, all those stories you heard about a ménage a trois here and a sex scene between Scarlett J. and Penélope C. there turn out to be less frothy than for what you would hope (and, I have to say, more innocent than anything Allen would imagine privately). Though, as you would expect, Cruz owns the movie upon her entrance, one who eviscerates the Americans before bursting into tears, eyeliner streaming down her beautiful face ...
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