At Las Vegas' CinemaCon (if you are scratching your heads, it used to go by the title of ShoWest) a number of 20th Century Fox's forthcoming releases have enjoyed a first look reveal, including a glimpse at the CGI motion captured damn dirty apes from this August's prequel
Rise of the Apes. The image of
Andy Serkis' ape looks great and menacing,
no doubt - but let's not get carried away with ourselves here. We need a full on glimpse at the ape to fully get on board with the notion that Fox have dropped the most famous aspect of the whole franchise (i.e. the incredible costumes & make-up that went into building these apes) in order to jump on board this new technological bandwagon. By happenstance, I found myself watching a bit of Tim Burton's otherwise ludicrous 2001 remake and finding myself enraptured by the make-up and costume design, which was just phenomenal. Seems a shame to go with CGI... but anyway, it's all done now and we will see the result in August. The full apes image and below are a few more first looks at new Fox movies...
Cameron Crowe's We Bought A Zoo;
his first movie since Elizabethtown - a dramedy based on the memoir of Benjamin Mee whose life crumbled at the news his wife was dying of cancer, and he made the decision to upsticks elsewhere purchasing a struggling zoo with over 200 exotic animals the whole family (the in-laws including) could run. Much like Elizabethtown, its a movie about characters trying to come to terms with something theyre lost, and finding connections with the people around them.
Matt Damon leads,
Scarlett Johansson plays a worker at the zoo he falls for with a supporting turn for Thomas Haden Church. This one's due Dec. 23rd.
Andrew Niccol's Now;
Formely titled Im.mortal, the movie is basically a Logan's Run influenced sci-fi thriller set in a universe where time is described as currency as your aging clock stops at 25, leaving the rich immortal and the poor struggling to live.
Justin Timberlake and
Amanda Seyfried are basically our new Michael York and Jenny Agutter... and the 'Sandman' of sorts is
Cillian Murphy. The movie is written and directed by Niccol, the great concepts man of the 90's who came up with The Truman Show and Gattaca from a blank page... It's due October 28th (U.S.) and November 4th (U.K.).
Alexander Payne's The Descendants;
An adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings novel about a besieged and wryly introspective attorney who wrestles with the decision of whether to keep his swath of valuable inherited land or sell it to a real estate developer" and who has just found out that his wife, who is in a coma she won't wake out of, was having an affair with a real-estate broker he is journeying to confront! Yup, that premise has me hooked. And that's before we know George Clooney is leading as the attorney! Due 16th November.
David Frankel's The Big Year;
Steve Martin really doesn't work enough.... that's the first thought that comes to my head from the image below. Martin,
Jack Black, Owen Wilson are three avid bird watchers who compete to spot the rarest birds in North America at a prestigious annual event. Due 11th November...
Images courtesy of
/film head honcho Peter Scrietta.