The folks at Warner Brothers weren’t kidding when they said they had a full slate for 2013. The presentation started with the head of domestic distribution telling the audience that Warner Brothers Pictures is the only studio to have over $1 billion dollars in Box office business every year for 12 years and that with any luck this will be “lucky 13.” Instead of having actors do the introductions they shined the spotlight on their directors. The presentation was a bit disappointing as we did not get much new footage that we haven’t seen before and it wasn’t focused. Curiously missing, or maybe not was any finished footage for the next installment of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. But we did get quick glimpses during The highlight was the premiere of the brand .They showcased an ambitious slate that had a nice mix of franchises, original IP and of course what everyone was looking forward to seeing – new Man of Steel footage.
The Man of Steel
Director Zac Snyder was on hand to intro the new trailer that will debut in front of Oblivion. As someone who has been unimpressed with the marketing of this movie to date. This new trailer is a winner. It finally showed glimpses of the actual story and the shear size and scope of this movie. It really looks like they are doing Superman: Birthright. This book is one of the most popular Superman origin stories in years. We see glimpse of his childhood and then some great shots of him living and saving people pre-Superman. Still not sure about Russel Crowe as Jor-El but I’m assuming he won’t have much screen time.
Guillermo del Toro introduced the trailer. I know the Pacific Rim trailer has been out for awhile now, but this is my first time seeing it. In my own defense they don’t show trailers at Critic Screenings. Holy cow is this some kind of great? They managed to actually make a live action Voltron and Johnny Sokko movie! Ok, I know it’s original IP but I swear this thing is almost exactly how I imagined a big budget Monsters vs. Gigantic Robots would be.
Baz Luhrmann was not in Vegas this week, but he did welcome the audience via video. While Man of Steel left everyone with an emotional high, I would say this 4 minute video package got the biggest applause of the night. The crowd was stoked at what they saw. I desperately want to talk about the post converted 3D, but not allowed too. The movie looks so amazingly over the top and kinetic that I’m real curious how audiences will respond.
You want to see a strong woman kicking ass? I think this may be the movie for you. Lena Headey who many will remember from The Sarah Connor Chronicles and currently Game of Thrones, stars in this sequel to Zac Snyder’s 300. The movie is shot in the same vein as that one with lots of weird looking digital sets. After the events of the first one this blood soaked revenge fest tells the story of Queen Gorgo‘s quest for Vengeance. Zac Snyder produced this, but handed over the reigns to newcomer Noam Murro.
Todd Phillips gave a funny introduction to the 3rd installment of The Hangover franchise. I’ll confess, not a big fan of these movies, but the footage in this trailer looks hysterical. This time out it looks like Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong are poised to be the center of this installment.
Other Trailers
We got a full trailer for the amazing, tense looking child kidnapping drama The Prisoners which has an amazing cast headlined by Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. A look at the trailer for the poorly titled Matt Damon sci-fi flick Elysium. This is Director Neill Blomkamp‘s hugely successful District 9.