The Summer officially kicks off at midnight this Thursday, with the release of the super-hyped
Spider-Man 3... and naturally, I'll be there for every minute of it! Since I'm also planning to be there at midnight (or as early as otherwise possible) for all the other big flicks this blockbuster season, we're certainly going to need a topic to track all the action.
Why all the excitement? Well, mainly because 2007 is going to be the
biggest Summer in history. If you haven't looked into the matter, you're going to be amazed how many high-profile releases we're going to be seeing in the next four months... so much so that I'm officially calling the highest-grossing season ever title a lock, at least in North America. Worldwide is tougher to gauge, as some of these movies might be delayed a month or whatnot in certain locations. But it's certainly a good bet as well.
Enough chit-chat! Let's get right down to the
2007 Summer Movie Preview
Note:
I've included links to the best quality trailer youtube has to offer for each of the flicks, so give them a click if the movie catches your interest.Note2:
There's alot of info here; don't feel you have to read through it all at once. If you just remember to check back before each weekend this summer, you can get the full scoop on what's going to be playing and if its something you'd be interested in.May 4thSpider-Man 3Full Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=4OA01InN8l0Why It'll Be Big: Are you kidding? Spidey 1 smashed every record in sight back in '02, destroying the old mark for biggest opening weekend, then continuing to tear through the box office for the rest of the Summer- not even
Attack of the Clones could put a dent in its amazing run. It ended up at
$404 million US,
$802 mil worldwide, both of which still stand as the best-ever for a comic book film. The opening weekend was so incredible, it wasn't topped until Pirates 2 finally pulled it off last Summer. Spidey 2 was a bit of a step back, at
$374/$784, but that's STILL bigger than any other comic book or superhero flick has managed. But here's the thing- S2 was an even better movie! It's had a great run on DVD since, and with a full 3 years of buildup since the last time around, S3 not being a huge blockbuster would be the biggest surprise of the Summer, no doubt.
Why You Should See It: Spidey 1 was very good, S2 was even better, the entire cast and crew are back, the trailer looks fantastic, and VENOM. If you're not sold on this one already, I don't know what more can be done for you! This is my pick for the #1 grossing film of 2007.
May 11th28 Weeks LaterFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=V13hS8oyK8MWhy It'll Be Big: Danny Boyle isn't back as director, but he's still heavily involved with what is looking like a very faithful continuation of the story he started in '03s
28 Days Later. 28D's mere
$45/$83 mil US/WW gross might not seem so impressive at first glance, but you have to remember that the movie was made for only 8 million dollars- a 10x multiplier is a huge success no matter how you look at it! The movie had a very faithful following on DVD, and with 4 years of buildup and a much larger budget this time around, the future is looking bright for this franchise.
Why You Should See It: Danny's last picture took the old boring zombie stereotype and kicked it right in the teeth; who says you have to be slow and stupid just because you
happen to be dead and enjoy eating brains? If smart, fast moving bloodthirsty zombies attacking innocent bystanders in the streets of London while the military bombs the city back to the stoneage doesn't sound like your thing, then yeah... I guess I could see why 28WL wouldn't interest you. But come on, how could your resist?
May 18thShrek the ThirdFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=tfxWYSzTYy4Why It'll Be Big: Everyone is shocked when they see these numbers, and I fully understand why because frankly I've yet to make sense of them myself. The very funny and inventive
Shrek 1 grossed
$268/$484 mil back in 2001. A solid showing, but far from a world-beater... but THEN, Shrek caught fire as DVD's first breakout children's movie. 3 years later, America's children were out in force for the continued adventures of the Donkey they'd rewatched 100 times at home...
Shrek 2 made $100+ opening weekend, and then just WOULDN'T DIE. Final tally:
$441/$921, good enough for 3rd all-time in domestic box office. Let me repeat that for emphasis:
the only films to have made MORE money in North America than Shrek 2 are Titantic and Star Wars. What the crap? Now you see why hopes are so high for S3.
Why You Should See It: Because everyone else will? I don't know... S2 was a long way from living up to the original in my eyes, but this trailer looks decentish, so maybe the series can return to form. I guess I'd wait for the reviews before buying a ticket though, if I were you.
May 25thPirates of the Caribbean: At World's EndFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=EXPDw_nh4KIWhy It'll Be Big: Don't joke around, joker! A movie based on a Disney park ride sounded like a terrible idea back in 2003, but
Pirates 1 proved us all wrong by being not only a success moneywise (
$305/$654), but a pretty good movie to boot. And then the "Shrek-effect" took over... it had a huge run on DVD, hype built up for a couple years, and all of a sudden it had become the #1 movie event of a weak 2005 Summer. But the amazing thing is,
Pirates 2 because that very rare movie that actually lives up to the hype. It topped Spidey 1's 5(!) year old opening weekend record and then kept right on rolling to a cool
$423/$1,065. To put that in perspective, only 2 films in history have managed to cross that elusive 1 billion dollar worldwide mark-
Titantic and
Return of the King. Mighty fine company! But will there be enough steam left in the box office to push P3 to similar numbers, given that Spidey and Shrek are still going to be eating up their fair share?
Why You Should See It: Alright, so Pirates 2 didn't live up to the original. But heck, it was still fun! And this is quite possibly my favorite trailer of any this Summer; check out that awesome swordclash to musical beat synch in the last section. Everything about this series finale just screams epic and is looking very cool from what you see there. I'm thinking Pirates might just be able to match hype twice in a row!
June 1stKnocked UpFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=e09DlZY5CzgWhat the Heck Is It?: The semi-sequel to last Summer's
The 40 Year Old Virgin, featuring the same director and crew but with new actors. An average-looking hard-partying fratboy has a very unlikely one night stand with a girl way out of his league... but what happens after her pregnancy test comes back positive?
Why It'll Be Big: The two big surprises of '05 were its late-Summer "dude comedies" 40 Year Old Virgin (
$109/$177) and
Wedding Crashers (
$209/$285), so now everyone and their mother is trying to repeat that success in '07. But Knocked is the best bet to actually pull it off- its got a premise dudes can totally get behind, dude, but with a romantic hitch on the backend to keep the girlfriends they'll take to the theater happy as well.
Why You Should See It: You liked 40YOV, right? So why wouldn't you want to see a movie that tells the story of how a just a normal slob like yourself could get lucky with one of the best-looking girls in the world (Hit It superstar Katherine Heigl
thengamer.com/hitit/vote.php?id=42 !)?
June 8thOcean's ThirteenFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=jICEMamxJKgAfter Clooney and the boys put together the fun little
Ocean's Eleven and made a nice bit of cash doing it (
$183/$451) back in '01, common sense said "that's nice, but they'll never be able to get that all-star cast back together again." They sure proved us wrong! Unfortunately,
Ocean's Twelve wasn't nearly as fun, and fewer got out to see it (
$126/$363). But the amazing thing to me is that as big as this cast was 6 years ago, not a single one of them has seen their star fall since then... Pitt's hotter than ever post-Mr. And Mrs. Smith, Clooney's won Best Actor, Damon is the New Action Hero between Departed and Bourne, Don Cheadle nearly won an Oscar of his own... the law of diminishing returns says 13 can't match 11, but it still seems a lock for a solid $100 mil at least.
Why You Should See It: Al Pacino! Talk about a perfect fit in the villian's role. Based on the trailer, this is looking like a return to the fast-paced heist action of the original, so we should be back on track for another fun ride with Ocean's Gang.
Also released on this Friday...
Hostel: Part IITEASER Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=7jh3wfkN-D8Why It Will Be Big: Ugh, please don't let it be... but yeah, the original grossed
$47/$81 last year, an amazing return for a horror flick that cost less than $5 mil to make. Even more amazing when you consider that people were paying 10 dollars to
watch people be tortured. Come on! But I digress. It used to be that Horror/Gore always fizzled out the second time around, like
The Hills Have Eyes 2,
The Ring 2,
The Grudge 2, etc. However, I have the icky feeling that H2 is going to act more like
Saw 2, which blew away the low budget original. Eww.
Why You Should See It: Did you love seeing random 20something American backpackers tortured to death last year? Well, now it's American 20something
bikini models being tortured to death, as evidenced by the teaser trailer. Which would be a major improvement in my mind, except for the fact that in the end, they're all going to get
tortured to death. Uh... yeah.
June 15thFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver SurferFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=NnKBPfkl13oWhy It'll Be Big: It won't, and frankly I have no idea how this movie got made.
Fantasic Four didn't exactly bomb two summers ago, it just... was very very average for such an expensive superhero movie (
$155/$330). Since when does that scream "we've got to have another one!"? Still, the Surfer is pretty cool, plus we're going to see Dr. Doom back and Galactus making an appearance. There's potential for improvement here, but I still say Spidey steals too much of its Marvel thunder to break out.
Why You Should See It: I actually like this trailer pretty well. I think it's really cool when a studio has enough confidence to make their trailer just an entire scene from the upcoming movie, rather than 1000 MTV-style quickcuts set to rock music and with a narrator constantly explaining things in the background. So two positive points I'll make:
* When the Silver Surfer warps through an object, he makes a "dong!" bell sound, just like the secret snowboarder from 1080 did when you ran into something on the course. Remember? Now to see if at some point in the movie, THIS surfer will also hop on a fat penguin.
* What man doesn't want to see America's almost-favorite HI girl Jessica Alba [
thengamer.com/hitit/vote.php?id=4 ] on her wedding night? No one, that's who!
June 22ndEvan AlmightyFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=vrMUPkXfQ90Why It'll Be Big: Back in '03
Bruce Almighty had one of the most impressive opening weekends ever at 86 million, and though it faded pretty quick after that it still pulled down a very nice
$243/$485. But Jim Carrey didn't want a sequel, so the franchise looked dead... then all of a sudden Steve Carell went from funny but little-known Daily Show correspondent to the biggest name in TV comedy on The Office, and they realized, who needs Carrey? Thanks to all the animals and special effects required, however, Evan's budget has skyrocketed- at over $140, it is now the most expensive comedy ever produced. But I have faith in how much people like Carell and Morgan Freeman, all those animal antics are going to draw in the kids, and so I see EA being able to earn back all that money and then some.
Why You Should See It: I was originally pretty excited for this movie, but that trailer has tampered my enthusiam somewhat. Still looks funny enough, but dang it, why do you have to show me the
whole movie in a 2 minute trailer? I don't want to know if his family eventually gets behind Carell's "crazy" sheme, I don't want to know if he ends up being justified in the end- I want to watch the movie, and find out for myself. But anyways, could still be worth a watch.
June 29thLive Free or Die HardFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=zND-2OkHUAIWhat The Heck Is It?:
1988 - Die Hard
1990 - Die Hard 2: Die Harder
1995 - Die Hard With a Vengeance
12 years later... John McClane is back!
Why It'll Be Big: The strange thing isn't that the franchise is back for a 4th go-round, it's that this didn't happen 8 years ago. All three of the original trilogy were smashing successes, just check these North American numbers. 1 -
$83, 2 -
$118, 3 -
$100. Would be good even today; fantastic by late 80's standards. But there have been so many big action flicks since 95, is Die Hard still going to be able to stand out? Probably not compared to the last 3 outings, but I bet it still scares up a pretty good bank total.
Why You Should See It: I didn't have a good reason for you... then I watched the trailer. Wow, does that ever look like fun! Yeah, the whole terrorism angle has been done to death by 24 and a million other shows/movies, but this high-tech internet/technology terrorism should be a nice counterpoint to McClane's old school "I'm going to shoot you in the face" mentality. And did you see the scene where they're almost smashed by that car? Haha... yippie-kay-ya indeed!
Also released on this Friday...
RatatouilleFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=YyrhfVspN3YWhat The Heck Is It?: The latest effort from Pixar, this time it's the tale of a Paris sewer rat who wants to be a chef someday.
Why It Will Be Big: Erm, do I really need to say? Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars... seven hits in a row is an unprecedented steak for
any production company, animation or not. And last five have pulled in
$250 US each without breaking a sweat, which is just unheard of. If Pixar can work its magic with monsters, bugs, and even cars, a cute mouse should be an easy sell for the kids. My only concern is the title of this movie; why use something so difficult to pronounce correctly? Didn't studios learn anything from
Gigli?
Why You Should See It: I'll admit the premise does seem a little more Disneyish than we've seen before, but after seven very good (and a few great) movies in a row, I'm going to give Pixar the benefit of the doubt, just as I did with Cars. Plus, that's a pretty solid trailer they've put together now; Pixar's just got this knack the kind of clever adult humor that's been sorely lacking in every other animated film I've seen since Shrek.
July 6thTransformersFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=zZp75fWe-ssWhy It'll Be Big: I'll admit, when I heard it was coming to the big screen (and in
live action no less), I said "holy crap, this'll be the biggest joke of all time!" But now that I've seen the full trailer, well, Michael Bay has made a believer out of me. This is exactly the end-of-the-world, last-chance-for-humanity epic-super-cgi'd-battle movie the Fourth of July demands... Independence Day nailed it, Men In Black nailed it, and I think Transformers might hit the nail right on the head as well. I'm not even a fan of the series, but I've got to admit that those robots look fantastic. And I really like that the trailer doesn't go directly to them... the suspense builds and builds with all these 'natural' disasters and then BAM, Decepticon! I can't believe I'm going to say this but... Transformers just jumped up to one of my most anticipated movies of the year.
Why You Should See It: Hm, this is a tough sell for the Elite. As a rule, we're children of the 90's. When we think Saturday morning nostalgia, half of us think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the younger half think Power Rangers or uh... whatever came next. Even as one of the older Eliters (23), I was still too young to get fullly into the late-80s Transformers craze, though I did own a couple action figures. Bay will have to get us into the theater with the crazy CGI fight scenes and the epicness of humanity being wiped out. But hey, all it took was two minutes of footage and I was sold!
July 13thHarry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=E9ZXOdGdTFIWhy It Will Be Big: Seriously? If you don't realize that Harry Potter is a absolute
machine by now, I don't know if there's much hope for you. Check these numbers: Potter 1 -
$318/$976, Potter 2 -
$262/$877, Potter 3 -
$250/$790, Potter 4 -
$290/$892. Yeah, it was trending down slightly, but
Goblet of Fire did a nice job of kicking it back up, and if this trailer is any indication, Phoenix should be continuing that trend. Also keep in mind that the seventh and final Potter novel is being released only a month after this movie- Pottermania is going to be at all all-time high this Summer, and that could only mean good things for this gross. Certainly the safest best for a Top Five performance this Summer.
Why You Should See It: Like I said, give the trailer a watch. Wow wow wow! This is right up there with Pirates as the best of the season as far as I'm concerned- I'm not even that into Potter, but there's no way I'm missing out on opening night after seeing that. The darker tone with each installment really suits this franchise well, IMO.
Also released on this Friday...
1408Full Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=gKqPlIFokigWhat The Heck Is It?: One of Steven King's best (and creepiest) short stories makes it to the golden screen. Room 1408 (adds up to 13, get it?) has a haunted history- dozens of deaths in the past 100 years, often under the strangest circumstances. But John Cusack doesn't believe in such nonsense, and there's nothing Samuel L. Jackson can do to keep him from entering.
Why It'll Be Big: It might be hard to sell a random number as the title of a thriller, but I think once people realize that King's attached they'll know what they're in for. If the end result is half as creepy/surreal/frightening as the trailer makes it out to be, I think we'll have a fine little success on our hands.
Why You Should See It: King recently saw the trailer for the first time, and said, "the trailer is terrific ... it looks like
The Shining only hot instead of cold." Talk about high praise!
July 20thI Now Pronounce You Chuck and LarryFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=LxGKe0VpGcQWhat The Heck Is It?: The team behind American Pie presents Adam Sandler and Kevin James as firefighters who get married, but only for the legal benefits, because really they're straight as could be and that makes it all hilarious and manly!
Why It'll Be Big: Ack, please,
please don't let it be. American Pie, Sandler, James, fake male homosexuality for comedy's sake... it's like they put everything I hate most in the world in a blender and said here, watch this movie! That being said however, the trailer isn't
quite as bad as I expected, and as mentioned before the "dude comedy" is the in thing right now. Plus this is going to be protested left and right by GLAAD and every other gay/lesbian organization out there, which as always will serve to do nothing but give it tons of free publicity. So unfortunately, yeah, I should see this being a hit.
Why You Should See It: You probably shouldn't. BUT, but, YIKES @ top HI Girl Jessica Biel [
thengamer.com/hitit/vote.php?id=55 ] at the end of this trailer. I can certainly see why she was voted World's Sexiest Woman last year! Not worth sitting through a whole crappy movie for, probably, but at least something to consider.
Also released on this Friday:
HairsprayFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=JHKwoE9xMnkWhy It'll Be Big: What is this, an attempt at the World Record for gayest weekend ever?
Why You Should See It: Next!
July 27thThe Simpsons MovieFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=A1RDBzKl9KIWhy It'll Be Big: Boy oh boy, now we come to it... the biggest wildcard of 2007. With Potter and Pirates and Spidey you know what you're getting... even if they "bomb" comparatively they're still going to make a whole mess of money, and on the other hand even if they "break out" there's no real way for them to distance themselves much from what the best in the series has already done. But The Simpsons? Think positive and you'll realize that no one could possibly touch the worldwide name recognition this movie has going for it. Soon to be the longest-running show in American history, often recognized as the Greatest Show of All Time, broadcast in more countries and more languages than anything else has ever been. And despite what you constantly hear from the Comic Book Guys of the internet ("The Simpsons hasn't been funny in ten years!"), the show's ratings have not declined a bit in the past eight years; several million continue to tune in every week to see the latest episode. If FOX is able to make a true event of this picture, able to say "if you currently watch the Simpsons, or have ever loved the show in the past, you HAVE to see this movie!" then there's absolutely no limit to how big it could be. But think negative and you'll ask, why would millions of people watch something they've been seeing for free for the past 18 years? Talk about being up in the air.
Why You Should See It: To laugh and enjoy and for pleasure.
August 3rdThe Bourne UltimatumFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=kKtozOWazOMWhy It Will Be Big:
The Bourne Identity came out of nowhere back in the Summer of '02 (can't believe it was so long ago!) to put up a pretty shocking
$122/$214. But it was another of those that truly found its legs on DVD, because we were surprised yet again two years later when
Supremacy blasted off to a very unexpected $54 mil opening weekend. The sequel held pretty well for a
$176/$289 total, and again went strong to DVD, so this time around some are expecting big results... But now I'm not so sure. Bourne's hook the last two times was "ah, now here's a superspy that'll break your arm and punch you right in the nose- none of this womanizing and wearing tuxes and relying on impossible gadgets like that James Bond!" But after getting beaten in the head twice in a row, the Bond franchise got the picture and rebooted itself with a new agent who... well, will break your arm, doesn't like tuxes, and prefers his fists to gadgets. So in a way this has become more of a tough sell for Damon, but I bet he pulls it off in strong enough fashion anyways.
Why You Should See It: The trailer promises more of the quick-cut, reality based fistfights and shootouts and chase scenes that the last two films have delivered. What's not to love?
August 10thRush Hour 3TEASER Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=a3sSJsh0jMgWhy It'll Be Big: Erm... I think it
would have been, four years ago. What took them so long? The first did very well for itself in '98 (
$141/$244), the second was even more fun and exploded with a much better than expected run in '01 at
$226/$347, but it seems to me that all its momentum has been lost in the 6 year delay since then. The teaser trailer doesn't do much to inspire confidence... those two singing along to "War" was funny last time, but I think they need a new angle if they're going to bring this back. Maybe I'm way off the mark here, but having a tough time getting my hopes up.
Why You Should See It: Maybe we'll know when they get around to a full trailer, but I'm not seeing much that you wouldn't get out of your R1 and R2 DVDs at this point.
August 17thSuperbadFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=MNpoTxeydiYWhat The Heck Is It?: The next great dude comedy... maybe? George Michael of Arrested Development as a new college student trying to get into the party scene, from alot of the people who brought you The 40 Year Old Virgin. And got Knocked Up since then.
Why It'll Be Big: Probably won't, but it's getting alot of talk as this year's hit sleeper comedy, so maybe there's good reason to have hopes.
Why You Should See It: Pretty funny trailer... beyond that, we'll just have to keep our ears to the ground.
August 24thSucks
Currently nothing important is starting this week. There's a chance a Dane Cook/Jessica Alba comedy will fall into this slot, or another medieval epic might fit in here, but I'll edit info in here when (if?) something non-crappy is confirmed.
August 31stMr. Bean's HolidayFull Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=8Mq2dgadXiUWhy It'll Be Big: It already IS big in the UK and many other countries internationally, as it was released there earlier this month and has already put up a worldwide total of nearly $150 million. So you can already chalk this one up as a success story overall, even if it fails in the States this Summer... which it almost certainly will.
Why You Should See It: Check the trailer. If this type of oddball British 'humour' your cup of tea, then it will be worth looking into. Of course if you're
actually British, you've no doubt watched it already.
tl;dr version:
"even the tl;dr version was tl; I dr it" version:
u suk
