The Year Ahead

As we wave goodbye to 2014, we can reflect on a year that didn’t quite provide the shot in the arm that Cinema needed. Financially, the US box office, representative of the worldwide box office to a degree, saw its takings decrease by 5%. Now, that doesn’t sound too much, but the reality is that that is a $600bn drop in gross figures. Major blockbusters, such as the final instalment of the Hobbit and Mockingjay; Part One didn’t herald the critical success that was needed to end the year on a high. Indeed, the biggest film worldwide was Transformers: Age of Extinction, which raised a smidge over $1bn. Now, it isn’t panic stations yet. However, if this year fails to live up to expectations then Hollywood may need to take notice. This is because 2015 is the year of the reboot, the year of the franchise. If tried and tested formulas can’t bring cinemagoers through the doors then the nay-sayers may be right to lament the downfall of cinema going.   

  

(On a very trivial note, my favourite film of last year was Gone Girl… gripped me from beginning to end, despite a soggy third quarter. Rosamund Pike gives a career defining performance as well, one which should be Oscar worthy.)

To reel off the returning franchises would take some time, but I think it may be necessary to highlight how big a year this should be. The Avengers returns with Age of Ultron, Jurassic World reboots a once great franchise in the same way Terminator; Genisys is breathing new life into a cult series. Ted bounces back onto the big screen, the Minions return, Magic Mike offers us another brief encounter, the Fantastic Four get a reboot, Mission Impossible gets its fifth outing, the Mockingjay returns, as do the Divergent and Maze Runner collections. Tom Hardy goes all Mel Gibson and brings back Mad Max, oh, and if that wasn’t enough Bond is back in Spectre and The Force Awakens as the Star Wars saga roars back onto the big screen. Even if every single one of these films is terrible, and I mean Sharknado 2 levels of terrible, then they will still bring with them fans young and old. So, besides a financial boost, what can we expect from these films?

When looking at the above films, a few seem to stand out. Age of Ultron has all the makings of a fantastic super hero film, with a deeper storyline and a darker tone which will open up Marvel’s third phase of film making. Spectre has a formidable cast, including double Oscar winning Christoph Waltz, Moriarty from Sherlock (Andrew Scott), Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and some bloke called Daniel Craig… Not Idris Elba yet, don’t worry Daily Mail readers.  After the commercial success of Skyfall, and the critical acclaim that Craig got with Casino Royale I’m sure the omens point towards a classic. Fresh from his brilliant turn in Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt will hopefully anchor what is a really interesting concept in Jurassic World and the likes of Emilia Clarke and a returning Arnold Schwarzenegger will be hoping that Genisys has more of an impact than Terminator; Salvation did a few years ago. However, it would be remiss not to mention the return of Star Wars. JJ Abrams has already masterminded one reboot (Star Trek – not even nerdy, just brilliant… ok a bit nerdy) and having seen the trailer it suggests that although there will be subtle nods to what came before, it appears that the galaxy far, far away has developed massively. So, that’s the mainstream looked at, what’s off the beaten track?

Well this seems to be the year of espionage in more ways than one. Yes, Bond is back, but there are two other titles that look well worth a watch. Guy Ritchie’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E, is, quelle surprise, a reboot of the 60’s Cold War themed show, but looks interesting. However, maybe my pick for the first half of this year at least is Kingsman; The Secret Service. Anchored by Colin Firth this looks like an Alex Ryder/James Bond hybrid with a dash of well judged humour and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. A slightly more grim watch may be Child 44, due for release in Spring. Based on the book by Tom Rob Smith, this is a dark thriller set in Stalin’s Russia where Tom Hardy’s lead delves into shady waters when investigating a spate of child murders. If you prefer something a bit more upbeat then watch Hugh Jackman release his inner Blackbeard in Pan. And if you would prefer a disaster movie which is likely to be ridiculous but entertaining then you won’t be going far wrong with San Andreas in May.

They may be some of the films, but what about the stars to look out for? Well, as mentioned, Emilia Clarke gets her fist big film role as the titular Sarah Connor which may prove daunting but could be incredibly rewarding. Tom Hardy has two big roles and John Boyega, star of Attack the Block, gets his first major role (reportedly) in The Force Awakens. Anna Kendrick looks set to have a good year as well, with the success of Into the Woods and her return to Pitch Perfect 2, as does Jamie Dornan, who, in spite of how awful the film may be, is bound to receive a lot of attention as the eponymous Christian Grey in a film which I believe is about Dulux colour samples.

The Autumn schedule for next year is packed with diamonds in the rough as well, but I imagine I may resurrect this blog closer to the time. Suffice to say, 2015 is going to be a huge year… a block-buster year in more ways than one.