Although we have still more than two months to go until 2004 is history, with some amazing titles about to be released, it is always good to look ahead to see what we can expect of the movie year 2005. And it will be dynamic year, with some exciting superhero, sci-fi and fantasy movies. A look at some of the most promising blockbusters of 2005.

BATMAN BEGINS

Release date: June 2005
Who’s directing: Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia)
Who’s in it: Christopher Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Michael Caine (Alfred), Liam Neeson (Ducard), Gary Oldman (Lt. Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Ken Watanabe (Ra’s Al Ghul), Katie Holmes (Rachel Daws), Cilian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow), Rutger Hauer (Richard Earle) and Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone)
Budget: $135m
Production company: Warner Bros.
Filming locations: London (UK), Chicago Illinois (US), Iceland, Surrey (UK), Shepperton Studios (UK), Essex (UK), Bedfordshire (UK)
Production status: Post-production
Plot: The story of how business man Bruce Wayne becomes his masked crime fighting alter-ego Batman.
Notes: It is not ‘just’ another Batman remake we are dealing with here, after Joel Schumacher’s and Tim Burton’s attempts and several TV-series (both live action and animated). Aussie Nolan is going for the darker approach and more focusing on the history and early days of Batman. The trailer (that is already available in theatres) promises us a darker take on the Batman legacy. One thing is for sure: this one is definitely blessed with a top cast and a top director, who showed us some piece of original film-making in Memento but also bestowed upon us the rather flat and disappointing Insomnia (but that may be due to a bad screenplay). This film lacks the famous helping hand – slash – side-kick Robin, as well as some of the infamous crooks like The Penguin and the Joker. Christian Bale seems to be a convincing choice, after his acting performances in American Psycho and Equilibrium. He seems to be on a roll, after having gained weight for the upcoming The Machinist and by losing it in just a few months to be all muscled and trained (à la Renee Zellweger) for the role of the masked hero. Bale seems to have the suited arrogance required for the lead role.

CARS

Release date: November 2005
Who’s directing: John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2)
Who’s in it: Bonnie Hunt (voice), Paul Newman (voice) and Owen Wilson (voice)
Budget: $70m
Production company: Pixar/Disney
Filming locations: Studio California (US)
Production status: Filming
Plot: The adventures of a bunch of cars on the famous the American Route 66.
Notes: Once called Route 66, Cars marks the final collaboration between Pixar and Disney. Extensive talks between the two studios eventually led to a split and both parties are currently focusing on individual CGI projects (Disney is currently shooting Chicken Little and Pixar is working on Ratatouille). Considering the success of previous projects, such as Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and the upcoming The Incredibles, Cars is destined to become a box office hit. Doubts may raise for the fact we get to see automobiles as the lead characters, but critics had similar prejudices about insects and fish in the past. One good thing, though, is the return of Pixar co-founder John Lasseter on the directing chair.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Release date: December 2005
Who’s directing: Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek 2)
Who’s in it: Georgie Henley (Lucy Pevensie), Tilda Swinton (Jadis the White Witch), Rupert Everett (Fox – voice) and Dawn French (Mrs. Beaver – voice)
Budget: $198m
Production company: Walden Media/Disney
Filming locations: London (UK), UK, Poland, Czech Republic, New Zealand
Production status: Filming
Plot: A group consisting of four siblings travel through a wardrobe and end up in a land full of mystery. Once there, they go on a mission to free the land with the help of a Messiah lion.
Notes: After a few decades of disinterest, fantasy is hot again, something we have discovered after the massive success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, that lifted a small production company called New Line Cinema to extreme heights. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first motion picture version of the famous books by C.S. Lewis and is directed by formal visual effects supervisor and Shrek director Adamson. The cast consists mainly of unknown child actors. Like LOTR, this film is mainly shot in New Zealand, and several other films of the series are scheduled for production. Most impressive is the huge budget, almost exceeding the one for the entire LOTR trilogy. Hopefully it can also approach the quality of Peter Jackson’s take in Tolkien’s magnus opus. Considering the resume of Adamson, this one will undoubtedly be visually stunning. Fantasy will be back in December 2005.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Release date: July 2005
Who’s directing: Tim Story (Taxi)
Who’s in it: Jessica Alba (Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch) and Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic)
Filming locations: Canada
Production status: Filming
Plot: The adventures of the ultimate group of superheroes in its attempt to stop the evil villain Dr. Von Doom.
Notes: We have been slammed with a bunch of superhero movies each year for the past couple of years and there are still more to come. With a new Superman expected in 2006, a sequel of Hellboy and another one for Spider-Man, comic fans won’t be disappointed. Fantastic Four has been in the pipe-line for quite some time and finally casting has been completed and filming has begun in Canada. The rather unexperienced Tim Story (who has recently made a US remake of Luc Besson’s Taxi) will be directing.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

Release date: November 2005
Who’s directing: Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mona Lisa Smile)
Who’s in it: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Emma Watson (Hermione), Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), Maggie Smith (McConagall), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) and Frances de la Tour (Madame Maxime)
Budget: $130m
Production company: Warner Bros
Filming locations: England and Scotland, Leavesden Studios (UK)
Production status: Filming
Plot: In order to win the Triward Tournement, Harry has to complete three difficult tasks. In the meantime Lord Voldemort prepares to return to finish off Harry.
Notes: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the first of the series to be actually directed by a British director. Hopefully the dark eerie atmosphere of its predecessor, The Prisoner of Azkaban, will be continued, but Newell has confirmed this to be the case. What is for sure is that the cast is, again, impressive and so is the massive budget. This is a story that requires some good and impressive special effects (including a horde of dragons and a giant Quidditch stadium) and will probably be the longest of all Harry Potter films to date.

KING KONG

Release date: December 2005
Who’s directing: Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings)
Who’s in it: Naomi Watts (Ann Darrow), Jack Black (Carl Denham), Adrien Brody (Jack Driscoll) and Andy Serkis (King Kong/Lumpy the Cook)
Budget: $110m
Filming locations: New Zealand, Thailand, Los Angeles (US)
Production status: Filming
Plot: A ship crew travels off to a desolated island, to they find a indigenous tribe that both fears and worships a giant gorilla.
Notes: After the immense success of The Lord of the Rings, there seems to be nothing New Zealand director Peter Jackson is uncapable of. It was a long lasting wish to do a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong and after Jackson has proved himself with the mammoth project about a little Hobbit on his quest to destroy the ring of power, this project was taken off the shelf and green-lighted. Andy Serkis renews his collaboration with Jackson by using a technique similar to the one used for Gollem in LOTR to bring the big ape to life. Jackson has promised to be true to the original, by giving the gorilla a heart and a human face. Considering the giant achievement with LOTR, I don’t doubt his vision on a giant primate.

STAR WARS: EPISODE III – THE REVENGE OF SITH

Release date: May 2005
Who’s directing: George Lucas (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – The Attack of the Clones)
Who’s in it: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi), Nathalie Portman (Padmé Amidala), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu), Christopher Lee (Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca)
Budget: $115m
Production Company: Lucasfilm/Twentieth Centrury Fox
Filming locations: Tunesia, Australia (studio only)
Production status: Post-production
Plot: The Clone Wars come to an end and the fight against the evil Republic (and future Empire) continues. Anakin Skywalker is slowly tempted to the dark side.
Notes: Except for a small portion shot in the desert of Tunesia (to resemble the sand planet of Tatooine) during filming of The Attack of the Clones, this last instalment of the Star Wars saga was completely shot in a studio. This is the one we are all waiting for, since it has a lot of explaining to do, a lot of loose ends to tie and a lot of characters to kill. Lucas promised this one is the darkest of all Star Wars films, and surely no kiddy stuff. We will see how Anakin is forced to the dark side to become the evil Darth Vader. Hopefully, this one will lack the annoying characters of The Phantom Menace and will have a little bit more to it than the mere action of The Attack of the Clones. And that will be it. No episodes VII-IX, according to Lucas, who states the original plan was to make just six films. We also know that Lucas has given contradictory statements in the past, saying he is not led by commercial success. Sure George.

WAR OF THE WORLDS

Release date: June 2005
Who’s directing: Steven Spielberg (E.T., Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler’s List)
Who’s in it: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fenning, Tim Robbins (Ogilvy) and Miranda Otto
Production Company: DreamWorks
Filming locations: New Jersey (US), New York (US)
Production status: Pre-production
Plot: The invasion of Earth by Martians..
Notes: With initial photography starting in November 2004, the path seems to be paved for the long-time wish of Steven Spielberg to make a film version of H.G. Well’s classic novel. It deserves mentioning, that due to some unfortunate events of the crew (including the need for yet another script revision of Indiana Jones IV and the sacking of the director for Mission: Impossible 3), this project has finally speeded up and moved ahead. There is another huge problem, though. There is another project based on the exact same novel and with the exact same title, directed by Timothy Hines and… planned for release in 2005 as well! Spielberg is considering to change the title of his version of War of the Worlds, which I consider a very dumb thing to do. He’s got the name and the skills to make this into a huge success, also judging on the quality of his last few films.

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