Before teasers and trailers are released, the Hollywood studios start the process for marketing new releases, developing the sales pitches and trying on movie summaries in expectation of the release of posters, trailers, and early online buzz.
This week we at borg.com ran across five new movies that piqued our interest that we wager you haven’t heard of yet, certain to be followed soon by full movie trailers we plan to preview here once they are released. They are all genre films, and feature big name actors like Ethan Hawke, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Edward James Olmos, Lena Heady, Keanu Reeves, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, and Emma Watson. The marketing for these films is in such an early stage the only photos we could track down are the above still and two movie posters.
Check them out:
About Time — Release Date: May 10, 2013 (Universal)
Genre: Comedy Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander, Margot Robbie
Written and Directed by: Richard Curtis
“At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time… The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim’s father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can’t change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life—so he decides to make his world a better place…by getting a girlfriend. Sadly, that turns out not to be as easy as you might think. Moving from the Cornwall coast to London to train as a lawyer, Tim finally meets the beautiful but insecure Mary (Rachel McAdams). They fall in love, then an unfortunate time-travel incident means he’s never met her at all. So they meet for the first time again—and again—but finally, after a lot of cunning time-traveling, he wins her heart. Tim then uses his power to create the perfect romantic proposal, to save his wedding from the worst best-man speeches, to save his best friend from professional disaster and to get his pregnant wife to the hospital in time for the birth of their daughter, despite a nasty traffic jam outside Abbey Road. But as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds out that his unique gift can’t save him from the sorrows and ups and downs that affect all families, everywhere. There are great limits to what time travel can achieve, and it can be dangerous too. About Time is a comedy about love and time travel, which discovers that, in the end, making the most of life may not need time travel at all.”
47 Ronin — Release Date: December 25, 2013 (Universal)
Genre: Epic 3D fantasy-adventure
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano and Rinko Kikuchi
Directed by: Carl Rinsch
Screenplay by: Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini
Screen Story by: Chris Morgan & Walter Hamada
“From ancient Japan’s most enduring tale, the epic 3D fantasy-adventure 47 Ronin is born. Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Kai, an outcast who joins Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of the 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honor to their homeland, the warriors embark upon a quest that challenges them with a series of trials that would destroy ordinary warriors. 47 Ronin is helmed by visionary director Carl Erik Rinsch (The Gift). Inspired by styles as diverse as Miyazaki and Hokusai, Rinsch will bring to life the stunning landscapes and enormous battles that will display the timeless Ronin story to global audiences in a way that’s never been seen before.”
2 Guns — Release Date: August 16, 2013 (Universal)
Genre: Action
Cast: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden, Fred Ward and Edward James Olmos
Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur
Writers: Blake Masters, David O. Russell
Based on the Boom! Studios Graphic Novels by Steven Grant
“Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg lead an all-star cast in 2 Guns, an explosive action film that tracks two operatives from competing bureaus who are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unique alliance: Neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent. For the past 12 months, DEA agent Bobby Trench (Washington) and U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman (Wahlberg) have been reluctantly attached at the hip. Working undercover as members of a narcotics syndicate, each man distrusts his partner as much as the criminals they have both been tasked to take down. When their attempt to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel and recover millions goes haywire, Trench and Stigman are suddenly disavowed by their superiors. Now that everyone wants them in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other. Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.”
This is The End — Release Date: June 14, 2013 (Sony Pictures)
Genre: Comedy Cast: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson with Michael Cera and Emma Watson
Directed By: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
“The comedy This Is The End follows six friends trapped in a house after a series of strange and catastrophic events devastate Los Angeles. As the world unravels outside, dwindling supplies and cabin fever threaten to tear apart the friendships inside. Eventually, they are forced to leave the house, facing their fate and the true meaning of friendship and redemption.”
The Purge — Release Date: May 31, 2013 (Universal)
Genre: Speculative thriller
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Rhys Wakefield, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane
Written and Directed by: James DeMonaco
“If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? In The Purge, a speculative thriller that follows one family over the course of a single night, four people will be tested to see how far they will go to protect themselves when the vicious outside world breaks into their home. In an America wracked by crime and overcrowded prisons, the government has sanctioned an annual 12-hour period in which any and all criminal activity—including murder—becomes legal. The police can’t be called. Hospitals suspend help. It’s one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin’s (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart. Now, it is up to James, his wife, Mary (Lena Headey), and their kids to make it through the night without turning into the monsters from whom they hide.
More to come as the studios release more information.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
