Captain America: The Winter Soldier

          Marvel and Disney Studios struck gold when they introduced movies goers to Iron Man in 2008 and teased them with the announcement of an Avengers movie in the future. Iron Man was a huge success grossing almost $600,000,000 at the worldwide box office. This was just the tip of the iceberg; The Marvel movie universe was just getting started. In 2011 we got to see Captain America: The first Avenger; and fans everywhere knew this wasn’t the last we’d see of the Star Spangled Avenger.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4, 2014. Set in a world after the events of The Avengers; The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rodgers, aka Captain America, still trying to adapt and settle into the modern world.  When a friend is attacked, Steve picks up his shield once again in defense of America and to protect those closest to him. Captain America re-teams with fellow Avenger Black Widow, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, and new comer Falcon. They soon find themselves in a fight for their lives as they face off against a powerful adversary know at The Winter Soldier.

            Marvel Studios has done a good job promoting and advertising this movie. With TV spots and social media ads they are trying to cover all the mediums to put the word out and get people excited for this movie and get them out to the theaters this April. Keeping the right balance in advertising can be tricky. Too much advertising and fans can be turned off to the movie or over hyped which can lead to a big letdown.  You want to give just enough so fans will flock to the theaters wanting more.

With a budget of $170 million dollars, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has its work cut out for it at the box office. Studio executives aren’t too worried about this movie performing well though. The Winter Soldier is the sequel to 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, which banked $370,569,774 worldwide. Not to mention 2012s The Avengers, which grossed approximately $1,518,594,910 worldwide.  Just being a continuation to these two blockbuster movies gives The Winter Soldier a huge advantage. Studio executives estimate The Winter Soldier will bring in approximately $87 million opening weekend and an estimated $225 million domestic gross.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

One thing Hollywood is famous for is its reboots and sequels. Mind you not everyone is a fan of reboots and sequels, and some would argue that nothing original has come out of Hollywood in years. One of the movies coming out this summer kind of falls into both categories in that it is a sequel to a rebooted franchise.

            The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings into theaters May 2, 2014. When The Amazing Spider-Man hit theaters in 2012 many people thought it was too early or thought that rebooting the Toby McGuire Spider-Man franchise was just completely unnecessary. When The Amazing Spider-Man finally made it to theaters it was received very well, reeling in more than $750,000,000 at the worldwide box-office, and quieted many of the naysayers. Studios are hopeful that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will follow its predecessor and pull down another huge pay day at the box office. With a $200,000,000 budget they are estimating a $112,000,000 opening weekend with a domestic haul of $265,000,000.

            With Andrew Garfield reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 finds Peter Parker trying to balance his life between being Peter Parker, average teenager, and Spider-Man, super hero. In this sequel we see the emergence of more super villains; in particular, The Rhino (played by Paul Giamatti), Electro (played by Jami Foxx), and the Green Goblin (played by Dane DeHaan). Spider-Man will have to defeat his enemies, protect his loved-ones and keep his identity a secret. 

            As much as fan boys everywhere would love to see a super hero movie cross-over in the Marvel Universe; A Spider-Man cross over to the X-Men or The Avengers may not ever happen. Although Spider-Man is part of the Marvel Universe, the movie rights are owned by Sony Studios and not Disney/Marvel Studios. If these studios ever did decide to collaborate, the end result could be huge. Bringing two power house franchises together under one roof could mean big bucks for the studios.

Godzilla

              Godzilla, the “King of Monsters” is a pop culture icon that has been in the movies since 1954 and appeared in dozens of films. Godzilla originated in Japan and its popularity has spread all over the world. In 1992 Sony Pictures acquired the rights to Godzilla and after many delays the movie was finally released in1998. Although it did well at the box office, it did not go over well with critics and fans. The plan for subsequent movies was abandoned and the movie rights reverted back to the Toho Company LTD in 2003.

            In March 2010 Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros acquired the rights from Toho and began work on their own Godzilla picture. According to Legendary Pictures, this Godzilla is “An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.”

            Legendary Pictures Godzilla had an estimated $160,000,000 budget. With an all-star cast and a compelling story line this movie could shape up to do very well at the box office and be a hit with fans and critics alike. Film Director Gareth Edwards stated that he wanted Godzilla to work as a standalone film with a definitive ending, and opposed suggestions that the ending should leave the film open for a sequel.  

            The studio has done a very good job so far in marketing this picture. They haven’t gone too over board with trailers, posters, TV spots and merchandising. The first full length trailer that was released was very well done. It didn’t give too much of the story or characters away. It didn’t have too much dialog but showed enough sequences to make the story look very compelling and leave the viewer wanting to know more and wanting to see the movie. Godzilla is scheduled to be released in the U.S. May 16, 2014.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

             X-Men: Days of Future Past is the 7^th installment of the X-Men movie franchise. Including spin-off movies X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine. Starting in 2000 with X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer, this movie was met with positive reviews and did very well at the box-office. X-Men 2: X-Men united was also directed by Bryan Singer, and did well with audiences and the box-office. Singer left the franchise after X-Men 2 and Brett Ratner took over as director for X-Men: The Last Stand. 
          X-Men: The Last Stand was met with mostly negative reviews and did not go over as well with audiences and critics as did the first two X-Men movies. The Last Stand was followed up with a Wolverine spin-off movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This movie also failed to hit home with audiences. With two box office hits and two that did not do so well, the future X-Men movie franchise was hanging in the balance. In 2011 director Gavin Hood came on board and helmed X-Men: First Class which was an origin story of Professor X, Magneto, and the first mutants to call themselves X-Men. First Class was a hit with audiences and breathed new, and much needed life, back into the franchise. First Class was followed up with another Wolverine spin-off moves called The Wolverine. This movie followed Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, in events occurring just after X-Men: The Last Stand. The Wolverine was a hit and the X-Men movies seemed to be back on track.

            On May 23, 2014 we will see Bryan Singer return as director for the latest installment in the X-Men universe; X-Men: Days of Future Past. DoFP is somewhat of a bridging movie, combining the cast of First Class (the young versions of the characters) with the cast of the original trilogy. With a massive budget of $225 million, no doubt to pay the salaries of the ensemble of A-list actors and actresses, DoFP has its work cut out for it at the box office. With the popularity of both casts coming together under one roof, DoFP could prove to be an epic film. Fans of the franchise will be flocking to theaters May 23^rd to see if the film delivers. 

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

            In 1968 the original Planet of the Apes movie was released starring Charlton Heston. It was a commercial success and spawned a series of 5 films from 1968-1973; Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Two short lived TV shows were also made. The live action, Planet of the Apes, premiered in 1974; followed by an animated TV show, Return to the Planet of the Apes in 1975. After 5 movies in 5 years, there was nothing from the universe of the Planet of the Apes for nearly 3 decades. Then in 2001 Tim Burton rebooted the franchise starring Mark Wahlburg. This adaptation did well at the box office but received mixed reviews from critics and fans. No sequel to this reboot was ever made.
           After another 10 year break from the cinema, The Planet of the Apes found its way back on the big screen. In 2011 Rupert Wyatt directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, starring James Franco as Dr. Will Rodman, a scientist trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. When testing a drug on Chimps, he finds out too late the drug causes the Apes to become intelligent and is deadly to humans. The Ape leading the charge, Caesar, finds more of the drug and gives it to as many primates as he can find. Free and now highly intelligent the Apes begin a battle for their survival.

            Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, set to release July 11, 2014, takes place 10 years after the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. After humanity in nearly wiped out by the virus that gave the apes their intelligence, and war with the apes themselves, an uneasy truce is reached. The peace is short-lived and both sides are brought to the brink of war. 

            2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a financial success and was received well by critics as well as average moviegoers; raking in nearly $500,000,000 at the world wide box office. The studio hopes the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, will follow suit and continue the success of this now 46 year old franchise.