Man Of Steel
To start things off we have one of the most anticipated trailers this year, with the first for Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, Man of Steel. Released at this year’s Comic-Con, the first teaser is both brilliant and beautiful, not giving away too much but giving enough to get us excited for its release next summer. With Henry Cavill in the lead role, the film follows Clark Kent/Kal-El, a young twenty-something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark must become the hero known as Superman to protect the ones he loves. Directed from a script by David S. Goyer (of the Batman trilogy), who co-wrote the story with Christopher Nolan himself, the film also stars Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, and Michael Shannon, and is set to be released on 14th June, 2013.
The Master
Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Thomas Anderson, we also have the first trailer for The Master, which marks the fifth collaboration between the director and the film’s leading star, Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. Set in America in the years following World War II, a charismatic intellectual (Hoffman) launches a faith-based organization and taps a young drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) as his right-hand man. But as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the onetime vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor. The new trailer gets you thinking what the underlying themes of this film could be, but it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea. Also starring Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, and David Warshovsky, The Master is set to be released in the UK on 9th November.
Cloud Atlas
The trailer that has most excited me this week is the first for Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s acclaimed novel, Cloud Atlas. The story explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. A mix of action, mystery and romance, the new trailer looks fantastic and it definitely has a lot to say for itself. With the three directors co-writing the script together, the incredible cast includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant, most of whom take on multiple roles and characters across the centuries the film spans. Set to be released on 26th October, this really is one to look forward to.
Life Of Pi
Another trailer that has impressed this past few week is for Ang Lee’s long awaited adaptation of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, set to be released on 21st December. Starring Tabu, Gérard Depardieu, Tobey Maguire and Irrfan Khan in support, the film follows Suraj Sharma in the lead role as Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean. The new trailer is pretty incredible and shows off some stunning footage that will certainly get you wanting to see more.
The Paper Boy
Debuting at Cannes earlier this year to mixed reviews – and some very random spoilers – we have the first trailer as Oscar-nominated writer-director Lee Daniels returns with his third film, The Paperboy. Directed from a script he co-wrote with the author of the original novel, Peter Dexter, the film follows a directionless young man (Zac Efron) who helps his reporter brother (Matthew McConaughey) investigate the possible wrongful conviction of a man on death row, and in the process falls for the woman (Nicole Kidman) whom the convict (John Cusack) has been romancing through prison correspondence. The new trailer brings this impressive cast together and it seems to be a collection of interesting roles for them all. Also starring David Oyelowo, Scott Glenn, Nikolette Noel, and Camille Balsamo, the film is set to be released in the US on 5th October, but it does not yet have a UK release date.
Branded
Looking more at a dystopian world where corporate branding has run amok, we have the second trailer for the sci-fi/thriller, Branded, which gives us a longer look at the film, bringing with it both more intrigue and promise. Co-directed and written by Jamie Bradshaw and Aleksandr Dulerayn, the film looks at a radically changed world were visions of bizarre and terrifying creatures with the ability to influence people’s thoughts, desires and actions are used as part of a company’s advertising campaign. With a pretty strong cast including Ed Stoppard, Max von Sydow, Leelee Sobieski, and Jeffrey Tambor, Branded will be released in the US on 7th September, but it still does not yet have a UK release date.
