Warner Bros. Summer Movie Preview just landed in my inbox, and the assorted offerings range from superheroes to a beloved inebriated wolfpack to Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis on a doomed road trip. Lots of options for escaping the heat into a nice air-conditioned theater.
“The Great Gatsby,” rescheduled from last December, found a release date on May 10, while “The Hangover Part III” follows on May 24. It’s anyone’s guess whether “Gatsby” will get another theatrical release towards the end of the year, to remind those all-important Academy Award voters about the film during awards season.
“Man of Steel” stakes a mighty tentpole on June 14, more than a month past the May 3 release of “Iron Man 3,” but battling for moviegoers with Brad Pitt’s “World War Z” on June 21 and the Will/Jaden Smith sci-fi extravaganza “After Earth” on June 7.
Let’s take a closer look at the summer offerings from Warner Bros.:
THE GREAT GATSBY
Release Date: May 10, 2013 (2D, 3D)
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writers: Screenplay by Baz Luhrmann & Craig Pearce; based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Producers: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Catherine Knapman
Executive Producers: Barrie M. Osborne, Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, Bruce Berman
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Amitabh Bachchan
Drama. “The Great Gatsby” follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he leaves the Midwest and travels to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan), and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).
It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without of the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.
THE HANGOVER PART III
Release Date: May 24, 2013
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips & Craig Mazin
Producers: Todd Phillips, Dan Goldberg
Executive Producers: Thomas Tull, Scott Budnick, Chris Bender, J.C. Spink
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms , Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, John Goodman, Sasha Barrese, Gillian Vigman, Jamie Chung
Comedy. “The Hangover Part III” is the third and final film in director Todd Phillips’ record-shattering comedy franchise. This time, there’s no wedding. No bachelor party. What could go wrong, right? But when the Wolfpack hits the road, all bets are off.
MAN OF STEEL
Release Date: June 14, 2013 (2D, 3D, IMAX)
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures
Director: Zack Snyder
Writers: Screenplay by David S. Goyer; story by David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan; based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Entertainment
Producers: Charles Roven, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Deborah Snyder
Executive Producers: Thomas Tull, Lloyd Phillips, Jon Peters
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Michael Kelly, Harry Lennix, Richard Schiff
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language.
Action Adventure. In “Man of Steel,” a young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
PACIFIC RIM
Release Date: July 12, 2013 (2D, 3D, IMAX)
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Screenplay by Travis Beacham and Guillermo del Toro
Story by Travis Beacham
Producers: Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Guillermo del Toro, Mary Parent
Executive Producers: Callum Greene
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, Clifton Collins, Jr., Burn Gorman, Larry Joe Campbell, Brad William Henke, Diego Klattenhoff
Sci-Fi Action Adventure. When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge.
But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes — a washed-up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) — who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse in “Pacific Rim.”
THE CONJURING
Release Date: July 19, 2013
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: James Wan
Writers: Chad Hayes & Carey W. Hayes
Producers: Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran, Rob Cowan
Executive Producers: Walter Hamada, Dave Neustadter
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor, Joey King, Shanley Caswell, Haley McFarland, Mackenzie Foy, Kyla Deaver, Sterling Jerins
Supernatural Thriller. Before there was Amityville, there was Harrisville. “The Conjuring” tells the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), world renowned paranormal investigators, who were called to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most horrifying case of their lives.
300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE
Release Date: August 2, 2013 (2D, 3D, IMAX)
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures
Director: Noam Murro
Writers: Screenplay by Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad
Based on the graphic novel Xerxes by Frank Miller
Producers: Gianni Nunnari, Mark Canton, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Bernie Goldmann
Executive Producers: Thomas Tull, Frank Miller, Stephen Jones, Jon Jashni
Cast: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, Rodrigo Santoro, David Wenham, Igal Naor, Callan Mulvey, Jack O’Connell, Andrew Tiernan
Action Adventure. Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel “Xerxes” and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster “300,” this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield — on the sea — as Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war.
“300: Rise of an Empire” pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), and Artemesia (Eva Green), vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
WE’RE THE MILLERS
Release Date: August 9, 2013
Studio: New Line Cinema
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Writers: Screenplay by Bob Fisher & Steve Faber and Sean Anders & John Morris
Story by Bob Fisher & Steve Faber
Producers: Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, Happy Walters, Chris Bender
Executive Producers: David Heyman, J.C. Spink, Marcus Viscidi, Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, David Neustadter
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Will Poulter, Ed Helms
Action Comedy. David Burke (Jason Sudeikis) is a small-time pot dealer whose clientele includes chefs and soccer moms, but no kids — after all, he has his scruples. So what could go wrong? Plenty. Preferring to keep a low profile for obvious reasons, he learns the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when he tries to help out some local teens and winds up getting jumped by a trio of gutter punks.
Stealing his stash and his cash, they leave him in major debt to his supplier, Brad (Ed Helms). In order to wipe the slate clean — and maintain a clean bill of health — David must now become a big-time drug smuggler by bringing Brad’s latest shipment in from Mexico.
Twisting the arms of his neighbors, cynical stripper Rose (Jennifer Aniston) and wannabe customer Kenny (Will Poulter), and the tatted-and-pierced streetwise teen Casey (Emma Roberts), he devises a foolproof plan. One fake wife, two pretend kids and a huge, shiny RV later, the “Millers” are headed south of the border for a Fourth of July weekend that is sure to end with a bang.
GETAWAY
Release Date: August 30, 2013
Studios: Dark Castle Entertainment/After Dark Films
Directors: Courtney Solomon and Yaron Levy
Writers: Screenplay by Gregg Maxwell Parker and Sean Finegan
Producers: Courtney Solomon, Allan Zeman, Moshe Diamant, Chris Milburn
Executive Producers: Joel Silver, Steve Richards
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, Jon Voight
Thriller. Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) is a burned out race car driver who is thrust into a do-or-die mission behind the wheel when his wife is kidnapped. With Brent’s only ally being a young hacker (Selena Gomez), his one hope of saving his wife is to follow the orders of the mysterious voice (Jon Voight) who’s watching his every move through cameras mounted on the car Brent is driving.
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