Jason Anderson
Special to the Star
It may take more than a guy with a shiny suit and an AC/DC soundtrack to keep movie audiences pumped up all summer long. It may also take more than the prettiest star or most dazzling FX wizardry. It may even take more than 3-D, which so many in Hollywood believe will save their industry.
What it is exactly that will keep moviegoers attention throughout the long summer months is anyone’s guess. All we can say for certain is that the industry is pulling out the big guns, unofficially kicking off the summer movie season with the highly anticipated, action-packed Iron Man 2, which hits theatres next weekend.
It’s almost impossible for filmmakers and producers to guarantee their wares will find success. And audiences are just as difficult to entice as they are to predict.
That’s why every release will be out to prove it has something the others don’t, an increasing challenge now that Avatar has redefined the wow factor. In other words, it’s up to you to decide whether a 3-D retrofit or a funny trailer is enough to get you into the multiplex. Here are this summer’s contenders. (Dates may change so keep checking the Star’s movie listings.)
May 7
Iron Man 2
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow
Story: After outing himself as the invincible Iron Man, Tony Stark takes heat from all sides, including Mickey Rourke as a Russian foe with a similar talent for gadgetry and a score to settle.
Competitive edge: Few summer movies can compete with the arsenal of weaponry for this sequel to the 2008 Marvel hit, which includes everything from new AC/DC songs to Scarlett Johansson as flame-haired superspy Black Widow.
May 14
Robin Hood
Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow
Story: The latest retelling of the British legend charts Robin Hood’s transformation from a lowly archer to a people’s hero who steals from the rich and . . . you know the rest.
Competitive edge: Past Oscar wins for the film’s cast and creators lend an air of prestige to Ridley Scott’s fourth teaming with his Gladiator star. But will the burly Crowe outdo Kevin Costner (never mind Errol Flynn) as the man in tights?
The Trotsky
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Saul Rubinek, Emily Hampshire
Story: A Montreal teen tries to inspire a Bolshevik-style insurrection among his classmates.
Competitive edge: Canadian audiences might like to see the rising Baruchel in a snarky comedy made in his hometown.
May 21
MacGruber
Cast: Will Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Val Kilmer
Story: A mullet-haired man of action does his best to foil a plot to destroy America without blowing himself up first.
Competitive edge: This SNL-spawned spoof of MacGyver could successfully exploit any nostalgia for crappy ’80s TV before The A-Team gets the chance.
Shrek Forever After
Cast: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy
Story: In his fourth animated adventure, a certain green ogre is trapped in an alternate world where he and his true love never met.
Competitive edge: Dreamworks’ latest 3-D effort has nearly a month to earn some affection before Pixar reintroduces some other old friends.
May 27
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Atherton, Ben Kingsley
Story: Buff young royals in medieval Persia team up to prevent the destruction of the kingdom by magical and nefarious means.
Competitive edge: The built-in audience created by the popularity of the original video game might actually show up for a big-screen adaptation for once.
Sex and the City 2
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis
Story: Carrie and the girls temporarily trade Manhattan for Morocco in this globe-trotting follow-up to the 2008 smash.
Competitive edge: The economic downturn may have left everyone feeling much less fabulous than they did when the series was in its heyday, but few fans can say no to another dose of romantic escapism and some postcard views from the exotic holiday they can't afford.
Also out in May: Exit Through the Gift Shop, Ajami, Mother and Child, Mid-August Lunch, Letters to Juliet, Mao’s Last Dancer, Sweetgrass, Leslie, My Name is Evil, Harry Brown and Micmacs.
June 4
Get Him to the Greek
Cast: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand
Story: Hill plays the hapless intern responsible for ensuring that a hedonistic rock star (Brand reprising his role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall) makes it to a gig on time.
Competitive edge: It’s the summer’s only guy-centric comedy to come from the imprimatur of producer Judd Apatow.
Killers
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck
Story: A freshly dumped woman is thrilled to meet and marry Mr. Right, but can their new union survive the revelation that he’s also an international assassin?
Competitive edge: Heigl’s recent apologies for diva-ish displays may endear her to moviegoers who would have otherwise steered clear of this action comedy.
Marmaduke
Cast: Owen Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland
Story: A very large Great Dane blithely destroys the lives of everyone around him.
Competitive edge: This summer is shockingly light on live-action talking-animal movies.
Splice
Cast: Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody
Story: Two ambitious scientists play god by creating a new lifeform, one that soon escapes their control.
Competitive edge: A healthy reception at Sundance heightened awareness of this Canadian movie, which could be the summer’s most unusual thriller.
June 11
The Karate Kid
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith
Story: A martial-arts master teaches a bullied kid how to wax on and wax off.
Competitive edge: This remake arrives at a time when everybody’s crazy for all things ’80s. Case in point: Our next entry.
The A-Team
Cast: Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel
Story: Four wrongly court-martialled Iraq War vets do what they can to clear their names while still unleashing obscene amounts of ammo.
Competitive edge: The tobacco habits of Col. Hannibal Smith should guarantee the movie big play in Cigar Aficionado magazine.
June 18
Jonah Hex
Cast: Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich
Story: A scarred old-west bounty hunter is enlisted to prevent the arrival of “Hell on Earth.”
Competitive edge: The appetite for movie adaptations of comic books seems limitless no matter what the source — in this case, it’s a DC title originally inspired by Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns.
Toy Story 3, 3-D
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Michael Keaton
Story: Andy’s toys face new trials when they’re dumped in a daycare centre.
Competitive edge: No other summer franchise is so well-loved, and the addition of an extra dimension sweetens the deal for Pixar devotees.
June 25
Grown Ups
Cast: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James
Story: Childhood basketball teammates reunite for a get-together with their broods.
Competitive edge: A family-oriented comedy with fart jokes might be just the ticket for Sandler’s aging fanbase.
Knight and Day
Cast: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard
Story: A woman gets swept off her feet and into harm’s way by a dashing secret-agent type.
Competitive edge: Cruise hasn’t been in a straight-up action blockbuster since 2006’s Mission: Impossible III; this could be his comeback season if he can stay away from Oprah’s couch.
June 30
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Story: The battle for Bella’s heart between her vampire beau Edward and her lycanthropic pal Jacob grows more intense.
Competitive edge: Stephenie Meyer’s vamp-love franchise remains a global phenomenon in all its forms. Blame it on the brooding.
Also out in June: The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, Pax Americana, Winter’s Bones, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, This Movie is Broken, Year of the Carnivore and Act of Dishonour.
July 2
The Last Airbender
Cast: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel
Story: A 12-year-old mystical warrior fights to restore the balance of a world ruled by elemental magic.
Competitive edge: The title of this adaptation of the kids’ animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender has been altered to avoid confusion with a certain James Cameron film. It should survive the change as long as director M. Night Shyamalan regains his ability to wow viewers.
July 9
Despicable Me
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Jason Segel
Story: A would-be evil mastermind’s scheme to steal the moon is derailed by three little girls.
Competitive edge: With its clever concept and terrific voice cast, this could steal some thunder from summer toons by Pixar and Dreamworks.
Predators
Cast: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Alice Braga
Story: A disparate group of humans are used as prey on a training exercise for alien hunters.
Competitive edge: Strangely enough, the fifth film appearance for the Predators rates as the classiest thanks to a strong cast and a solid director in Vacancy’s Nimród Antal.
July 16
Inception
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard
Story: Espionage enters a new realm as operatives infiltrate their targets’ dreams in this science-fiction thriller by Christopher Nolan.
Competitive edge: The prospect of a high-tech mindbender by the maker of Memento and The Dark Knight has fanboys (and girls) going nuts with anticipation.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Monica Bellucci
Story: An ancient sorcerer arrives in modern-day New York to save the city from an evil wizard.
Competitive edge: Any new effort by the National Treasure team should pass muster with families. Plus, Nickelback fans may confuse the long-haired Cage for Chad Kroeger.
I Am Love
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti
Story: A wealthy Milanese family is imperiled by matters of love and money.
Competitive edge: Adventurous viewers may discover that this Italian import offers a more sumptuous experience than anything Hollywood provides this season.
July 23
Dinner for Schmucks
Cast: Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, Zach Galifianakis.
Story: An exec competes in a malicious contest with his peers to see who can bring the nerdiest guest to dinner.
Competitive edge: This comedy takes a razor-sharp French film farce — Francis Veber’s The Dinner Game — as its source.
Salt
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Story: Another one of those superspy types goes on the run after being accused of treason. The wrinkle this time is that the agent is a woman.
Competitive edge: That Jolie has taken a role that was originally intended for a man counts as a rare gesture of gender parity by Hollywood standards. Even so, the star’s appearance in 2008’s Wanted was a potent reminder of her worth as an action heroine.
July 30
Beastly
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer
Story: Beauty meets beast when a young woman agrees to live with a guy whose callous behaviour was rewarded with an ugly-fying curse.
Competitive edge: Horror, romance and the star of High School Musical all add up to a tempting confection for the Twilight set.
Also out in July: Charlie St. Cloud, Grease Sing-Along, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Ondine, Winnebago Man, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel and Mr. Nobody.
Aug. 6
The Other Guys
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg
Story: Two action-starved NYPD detectives get more than they can handle when they stumble into a big case.
Competitive edge: Under-used as a comic actor, Wahlberg is a welcome addition to the team behind Anchorman and Talladega Nights.
Aug. 13
Eat Pray Love
Cast: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup
Story: Taking a personal odyssey in the wake of a painful divorce, a writer finds solace in new love and some excellent pizza.
Competitive edge: Everyone you know cried when they read Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir. With Julia Roberts on board, it’s this year’s Julie & Julia.
The Expendables
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis
Story: A ragtag team of mercenaries cause fiery mayhem in a South American country.
Competitive edge: The cast — which also includes Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke and Jet Li, plus cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger — is laden with so much testosterone, you can smell the sweat from here.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Story: A young musician must battle his new girlfriend’s seven deadly ex-boyfriends
Competitive edge: Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Toronto-centric comic, this film will have a huge abundance of local colour. So even if the blend of chopsocky action, youth romance and slacker humour is too idiosyncratic for the masses, Edgar Wright’s movie has an eager audience here.
Aug. 20
The Switch
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman
Story: A single mother is surprised to learn that her child is not the spawn of an anonymous sperm donor but a close friend who switched it with his own batch.
Competitive edge: This summer is shockingly light on artificial-insemination comedies.
Aug. 27
Going the Distance
Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long
Story: A couple endures the travails of a long-distance relationship.
Competitive edge: Audiences will surely want to come celebrate the back-on-again romance of Barrymore and Long. If not, they could still send a nice card.
Piranha 3-D
Cast: Elizabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O’Connell
Story: Deadly flying fish threaten Fourth of July vacationers in an Arizona town.
Competitive edge: C’mon — they’re piranha . . . and they’re flying right off the frigging screen! What? Don’t you like movies?
Also out in August: Step Up 3-D, The Lottery Ticket, Takers, Middlemen, The Last Exorcism, Get Low, Nanny McPhee Returns, Lebanon and The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
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