Trailer-Palooza!: Labor Day, Maleficent, & More

At times, it seems like there’s a dearth of trailers, and at other times, it seems like there’s a backlog of trailers, so we’ve decided to collect a bunch of recent trailers (whose films are – for the most part – due out in the first quarter of 2014) for your viewing pleasure.

Drama

After months of waiting, Jim Jarmusch’s next feature, Only Lovers Left Alive, a drama with a vampiric twist, has a trailer, showcasing the cast (Tim Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Mia Wasikowska, and Anton Yelchin) and their, shall we say, tendencies. The film has been picked up post-Cannes by Sony Pictures Classics with no set US release date. We were lucky enough to catch it at the New York Film Fest this year, and it ended up being one of the better films that we saw.

Next up, Slashfilm has two trailers (one an online-exclusive and the other a theatrical) for Jason Reitman’s fourth film, Labor Day. Adapting Joyce Maynard’s 2009 novel, the film follows Adele Wheeler (Kate Winslet) and her son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) who inadvertently aid an escaped convict (Josh Brolin) on Labor Day 1987, and it promises to be different from the snarky tone of Reitman’s prior films. It’s set for a limited release on Christmas Day 2013 with a wide release at the end of January 2014.

If you’re in the mood for action sequels, look no further than The Raid 2: Berandal, Gareth Evans’s sequel to his 2012 breakout The Raid: Redemption. While the trailer (below) provides tiny glimpses at the plot of the sequel, it certainly promises more pencak silat action but not in a single Indonesian apartment high-rise. The film is to be released in March 2014. What about big budget Biblical films? We haven’t had one of those in a while. Well, feast your eyes on the first trailer for Ridley Scott’s Noah, featuring Russell Crowe as the eponymous ship-builder. Jennifer Connelly (Naameh), Logan Lerman (Ham), Douglas Booth (Shem), Emma Watson (Ila), and Anthony Hopkins (Methuselah) star as Noah’s immediate family, and Ray Winstone (Tubal-cain) is the antagonist. It’s definitely another film that’s out of the director’s (Darren Aronofsky) usual wheelhouse in terms of CGI (the weather, the animals, etc.), and it’s bound to raise some controversy. But if you want some authenticity, some of the Ark set was shot out on Long Island last fall and was affected by Hurricane Sandy. The film is set to be released on March 28, 2014 by Paramount. Fantasy Ever wondered what the kingdom was like before Princess Aurora was born? Well, thanks to the directing talent of Robert Stromberg (previously a production designer for, among other films, Alice in Wonderland and Oz the Great and Powerful) and the writing team of Linda Woolverton (Beauty and The Beast (1991), Alice in Wonderland (2010)) and Paul Dini (most known for shepherding numerous Warner Brothers/DC Comics shows), we’ll now know what Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) was like pre-Aurora (Elle Fanning) before the film, which hits theaters on May 30, 2014, transitions to a re-imagining of Disney’s 1959 animated classic. If anything can be taken from the trailer, it’s that Jolie’s Maleficent costume is spot-on! Mining Nostalgia (Reboot)

Do we really need a RoboCop reboot? Whether we like it or not, we’re getting one. The first trailer hit the web in September to lackluster reaction, but the second trailer, which showcases the cast (Joel Kinnamen, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, and Abbie Cornish) a little over the iffy CG fight/training sequences from the first trailer, improves on it. It’s safe to say that this isn’t your parents’ RoboCop for three reasons: 1) The stealth/black outfit. There are glimpses, however, of the iconic metallic silver suit; 2) It is rated PG-13 (because we can handle that level of violence – and not the over-the-top violence of Verhoven’s film – in today’s society, right, MPAA?); 3) It’s slated for a February 12, 2014 release. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, folks!

Adaptations

First-time feature-film director Akiva Goldsmith (you’re probably familiar with his writing by now) brings Mark Helprin’s novel Winter’s Tale to the multiplex this upcoming Valentine’s Day 2014 (I’m sensing a theme here) after filming delays (also because of Hurricane Sandy). The romantic fantasy set in New York City across the decades follows Peter Lake’s (Colin Farrell) quest for a lost love (Downton Abbey‘s Jessica Brown Findlay). Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and William Hurt (among others) round out the cast. The first trailer heavily lays on the star-crossed-and-time-separated lovers plot, but it doesn’t do much for me. Maybe my preconceived notions will improve after a second trailer.

Tired of the need to adapt the hottest YA novels out there? I hope not, because Neil Burger’s adaptation of Veronica Roth’s Divergent hits screens on March 21, 2014. Starring Shailene Woodley as Tris, the film follows youth in futuristic and dystopian Chicago whose talents place them in one of five factions or social strata. Tris, on the other hand, doesn’t fit in any of the five factions, so therein lies the rub. Theo James, Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Maggie Q, Jai Courtney, and Mekhi Phifer round out the main cast. The concept, despite its familiarity, does look interesting, as does the addition of a new filmic role model for young women, but the logo design screams of a CW TV show. I won’t hold that against the film too much. The Kid in All Of Us (Family Films)

Who doesn’t love Legos? Furthermore, who wouldn’t love to see a feature-length big-screen Lego movie? You’ve got your wish! From Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the guys behind the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street adaptations, comes The Lego Movie, the story of an ordinary Lego man (Chris Pratt) who is mistaken for the Master Builder (I’m getting a bit of a Tron vibe here) who must save the Lego world from the evil President Business (Will Ferrell) with help from Batman (Will Arnett), Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), among others. Be warned, though, as Lego puns-galore will be coming your way once the film hits theaters on February 7, 2014. And to wrap up this trailer digest, who didn’t love The Muppets, Jason Segal’s love letter to the Muppet franchise? Well, the crew is back (minus Segal and Adams) and they’re off to Europe in Muppets Most Wanted (directed by James Bobin) … if they aren’t held up by Kermit’s master-thief doppelganger Constantine, his henchman (Ricky Gervais), and a cast of celebrity cameos. The film hits theaters on March 21, 2014.

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