10 Essential Summer Blockbusters That Aren't Part Of A Franchise

9. Pixels

Ok, a film that stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James may not sound like the most exciting proposition, but there is reason to believe this one could be better than their previous outings (admittedly not a difficult task). It's based on Patrick Jean's animated French short of the same name, which featured arcade characters invading New York, and by the end Earth is one giant pixel. The premise of this one is that when aliens watch video feeds of classic arcade games, they misinterpret these as a declaration of war, and attack Earth in the form of the video game characters. Kevin James€™ President (words no one ever expected to read) William Cooper calls on his old friend and 80s arcade champion Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) to combat the aliens. Looking past Sandler and James, it€™s a pretty solid cast (spoiler alert: it also includes Sean Bean), as the team recruited to work against the aliens includes Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad, while Jane Krakowski plays the wife of President Cooper who once had a relationship with Brenner. This could well be something at least a little different from what Sandler's being doing the last 10 years or so, with characters from games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong are also set to appear, giving us a fun premise that adds up to something like a cross between Independence Day and Wreck-It Ralph. Chris Columbus is directing the film, which will blend live action and CGI, and he knows a thing a two about directing big, fun family movies. The aliens will arrive on 12 August in the UK, and 24 July in America.