release dates Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass made enough of an impact at last month's Comic Con to get Lionsgate interested, and the distributor has now nailed down a release date for the apparently over-the-top action fest. And that date is April 16. In related news, Lionsgate has named August 20 as the arrival date for The Expendables, which stars the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, and Eric Roberts. Can't wait.

If you're looking for something a bit closer to the horizon, well then get ready for Boondock Saints 2: All Saint's Day! Sony will unleash the long-awaited sequel on October 30, and I've included a small press release after the jump. But yes, Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Billy Connolly are returning, as is writer/director Troy Duffy. So to all who thought that the Overnight documentary was the end of the Boondock saga, well, looks like you (ok, we) were wrong.

Which, if any, of these action flicks has you the most geeked up?

Earlier today, Paramount and Marvel Studios announced an agreement for the former to distribute (worldwide) Marvel's next five self-produced flicks. In addition to this news, tentative release dates were given for Iron Man 2 (moved to May 7, 2010), Thor (moved to July 16, 2010), The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011) and The Avengers (July 15, 2011). The agreement is said to also cover Iron Man 3. All I'm gonna say is what the hell will we do in 2009 without Superman, Batman, Spider-Man ... or any of these new Marvel films? Perhaps we should create Government Bailout Man and ask Oliver Stone to whip up the flick in about three months or so .... (not funny Davis).

But back to Marvel. It was announced earlier today that Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct Thor (a ballsy move, but certainly one that comes with a lot of promise) while word is still out on filmmakers for The Avengers and Captain America ... and what's up with Ant-Man? Obviously folks are really looking forward to seeing what Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. do with Iron Man 2, but ... honestly ... Thor just shot up past Iron Man 2 on my must-see list. C'mon ... we're looking at a three-hour Shakespearean epic -- one that must include Jeremy Irons playing someone we immediately hate. What's not to look forward to?

But seriously, which upcoming Marvel film is at the top of your must-see list ... and why?

It seems crazy to me that studios "claim" release dates two and three years before the movies come out. I understand that it builds up anticipation, but hanging a release date over filmmakers' heads can't help the end result. For example, I attended a screening of the director's cut of Troy the other night (very cool), with director Wolfgang Petersen introducing. He discussed how at test screenings he realized the score of the film wasn't working. He wound up replacing it in a huge rush to make the release date, and it became one of many aspects of the final film he was unhappy with. Why not just give directors time to make the films they want instead of all the "starting without a finished script" -type stuff that goes on? Well, two upcoming movies -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (or as I call it, TCONTVOTDT -- it just flows better) and The Wolf Man -- seem to be doing just that.

Prince Caspian, the second Narnia adventure, is still set for release this May, but TCONTVOTDT has been moved from May 1st, 2009, to May 7th, 2010. Taking its place on the '09 date is something called G-Force, "a Jerry Bruckheimer family-adventure about a band of animal commandoes trying to stop an evil billionaire taking over the world." If that plot description is any indication, Summer '09 is going to be a magical time at the cineplex! Mark Romanek's The Wolf Man, with Benicio del Toro in the title role, is being moved from November 18th, 2008 to Spring 2009. I love del Toro, and am really looking forward to that one. I wonder if the notoriously hairy Robin Williams was considered for Wolf Man? Might have saved money on makeup. Reasons have not been given for the release date changes, but Empire speculates that it likely has something to do with the actor's strike that could shake up the industry next June. Hopefully, putting some extra time and care into these movies will be a good thing.

Get out your 2009 calendar, and write this down. What, you don't have a 2009 calendar? You don't plan things more than a year in advance? Oh, you must not work in Hollywood -- those studio execs like to schedule movies farther and farther in advance these days. Back in April, before the 2007 Memorial Day holiday had even come, both Dreamworks Animation and 20th Century Fox had already penciled in their Memorial Day 2009 bows -- Monsters vs. Aliens and Avatar, respectively. Despite the serious competition involved in having those two blockbuster 3-D movies go head to head, the studios could have sat on that news for awhile, at least until 2008 or so. But since then, Dreamworks has twice shuffled its release date for Monsters vs. Aliens. First, it moved the animated pic back a week in order to avoid a clash with James Cameron's hugely anticipated Avatar, and now, according to Variety, it has again changed its mind, pushing the animated movie up a couple months to March 27.

Dreamworks claims the bump up is due to a desire to distribute on the most screens possible, banking on the fact that at least 5,000 theaters will be 3-D equip by then. The studio also points out that the spring month has proved to be a good time for family films. Well, yes, but the summer has obviously been pretty good for giant family films like those Dreamworks' own Shrek films. If I wanted to be cynical about the move -- and I rarely miss an opportunity to be a cynic -- then I might throw it out there that Dreamworks is truly afraid of Avatar, particularly fearful that Cameron's new 3-D cinematography will be so good that it will make the 3-D in Monsters vs. Aliens look like a throwback. This could very well not be the case; Dreamworks' own next-generation 3-D technology is likely to be very impressive, too, and surely the kiddies will not be comparing the two films anyway. That's our job.

So, in case you don't have a 2009 calendar, make one out of construction paper and brass fasteners, and then pencil in (Dreamworks could always change its mind again in the next 18 months) March 2. Monsters vs. Aliens will be the studios' first animated film produced in 3-D -- rather than modified after production -- and will be a sort of comic reinvention of old monster movies. Shrek 2's Conrad Vernon and Shark Tale's Rob Letterman are directing.

Those of you who aren't attending a wedding on August 8, 2008 (aka 8/8/08 -- dun dun dun) will most likely be able to check out Bryan Singer's new flick, Valkyrie (or, The One That Doesn't Involve a Superhero ... Unless You Consider Tom Cruise a Superhero. Which You Might. And That's Okay. Just Don't Tell Anyone). According to a report over at Coming Soon, United Artists is eying the date -- romancing it a little -- and trying to decide whether or not it wants to invite it up for the night. If all goes as planned, Valkyrie (which IMDb is now calling Rubicon) will share that date with New Line's Journey 3-D, Sony's Pineapple Express, Disney's South of the Border and Warner Bros.' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (this time ... the pants come off!) Based on actual events, Valkyrie tells the story of German generals who come up with a plan to assassinate Adolph Hitler during World War II. Hilarity ensues.

On another front, Dreamworks Animation has decided to push the release of its Monsters vs. Aliens flick back one week to May 15, 2009. This was fairly expected, as it was originally set to go up against James Cameron's Avatar. And since both films will be released in digital 3D, it was smart to put them a week apart so that they're not fighting to the death. Apparently, Monsters vs. Aliens will debut on a whopping 6,000 screens -- however, right now only 800 screens are capable of showing 3D projection. What does that mean? Well, it means people need to pick up the pace ... and fast. Monsters vs. Aliens marks the first film for Dreamworks Animation that's produced in stereoscopic 3D technology (hopefully that means we get to actually take home one of those monsters after watching the film) and, according to CS, "reinvents the classic '50s monster movie into an irreverent modern day action comedy." There ya have it folks -- mark your calendars now.

Horror fans have lots of good reasons to admire Lionsgate. Say what you will about Saw and/or Hostel, but if you look back through LG's output over the last several years you're bound to find a fright flick (or six) you really admire. And although they have no problem putting together their own movies, some of the 'Gates' most colorful releases have been pick-ups from foreign lands -- High Tension (France), The Descent (UK), Undead (Australia), Ginger Snaps (Canada), Cabin Fever (North Carolina), etc.

But now it looks like another indie distributor has set its sights on doling out some of the foreign horror, and they're called Magnolia Pictures. Best known for supporting really solid titles like Dead Man's Shoes, Keane, Cavite and District B13, Magnolia is also the outfit that brought the original Pulse to American shores -- and now they're going back to the foreign horror well with a pair of highly-anticipated titles.

According to my gore-brothers over at BD.com, Magnolia will release Bong-joon Ho's enthusiastically acclaimed monster movie The Host on January 29th of next year, and they'll follow that up on March 9th with Severance, a "psycho in the woods" romp that comes from Christopher Smith, director of the generally underrated Creep. And here's the very best part: Both of these flicks will be playing at Toronto next month, so I don't have to wait for 2007! Oh wait, that's not the best part. That's the obnoxious part. My bad. In way of apology, please enjoy the Host trailer and the Severance trailer.

Anyway, if this keeps up I expect Lionsgate to just swoop in and say "Hey, good work, Magnolia. We're buying you."

With all the movie news and release date announcements flying here, there and everywhere, I haven't yet had the chance to feel out next summer's line-up. After all, it's only August, and we have a long way to go before 2007 starts to matter. However, when the Movie Blog threw up a list, the thing completely blew me out of the water. Oh yes, next summer has the potential to go down as one of the greatest in the history of blockbuster seasons. Check this out folks:

• May 4: Spider-Man 3
• May 18: Shrek the Third
• May 25: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
• June 8: Ocean's Thirteen
• June 15: Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer
• June 22: Evan Almighty
• June 29: Live Free or Die Hard, Ratatouille
• July 4: Transformers
• July 13: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• July 27: The Simpsons Movie
• August 3: The Bourne Ultimatum
• August 10: Rush Hour 3

Okay, so they're not the most intelligent films. But if summer is supposed to be all about blockbuster popcorn flicks, then you are sure to get your money's worth out of 2007. Did I miss anything? What are you looking forward to the most?

[Hat Tip to Alex from First Showing]

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• According to Dutch newspapers, Quentin Tarantino has shown interest in remaking the Dutch horror film Dead End (or Dood Eind). Pic, which won't debut in Holland until August 3, is said to revolve around a group of friends who stumble into a house in Scotland only to discover it's cursed and, well, bad things happen. Apparently, the distributors for Dead End showed Tarantino a 20-minute reel and the Grind House director liked what he saw. If he does come on board, I'd expect him to do so as an executive producer (a la Hostel) and not as director. Between Grind House and Inglorious Bastards, something tells me he'll be busy for awhile.
• Paramount is putting all their money on Dito Montiel, after signing him on to rewrite and direct Runnin'. Montiel recently made his directorial debut with A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (See: James' Sundance review). Pic went on to receive the directing prize and special jury prize for best ensemble performance at the Sundance Film Fest, and will also play the Venice Fest before arriving in the U.S. Runnin' is said to center around the underground world of illegal sports betting in New York City.
• Now that they've released a brand new trailer for Darren Aronofsky's first directorial effort in six years, forcing Scott to all but soil himself, Warner Brothers has decided to make us wait even longer to see The Fountain. According to Box Office Mojo, the film has jumped from October 13 all the way to November 22. What gives? Of course, those of you lucky enough to be in Austin (Damn you Jette!) on September 28 will get a sneak peak way before the rest of us when The Fountain closes out Fantastic Fest.

A few changes have been made to the release dates for some upcoming films. So, in case you're interested in that sort of thing (admit it, you're a release date nut!), stick around and check out the following:

• Those of you itching to catch Jessica Simpson ruin another movie with her horrible acting skills won't have to wait as long anymore seeing as the release date for Employee of the Month has been moved up from September 29 to September 15. The comedy (which currently sports some brand new posters) also stars Dane Cook and Dax Shepard.
• No one knows what's going on with the upcoming Pulse, except that the film has swapped more dates than Lindsay Lohan. Originally, pic was supposed to hit theaters on July 14, only to have its release pushed back to September 8. Now, it seems they've settled into August 8, though, with still a month to go, chances are this puppy will be heading somewhere else. We'll keep you posted.
• The supposed last martial arts-related film in Jet Li's career also has a new release date. Yeah, and Sean Connery is really retiring too. C'mon Jet, you'll be back kicking ass in no time -- just admit it already. Li's Fearless has been pushed back to September 22 after originally settling down to an early August bow.
• Man, and here I was really looking forward to a new werewolf flick. Seriously, I was. I like werewolves. They're cute. Anyway, something is up with the new flick Skinwalkers, as its release date has been pushed back from December to sometime in April 2007. Either production is running long or the filmmakers want to wait until the season's change and the sun stays out longer. Yeah, that joke failed. I'm out of here.

According to Variety, Fox isn't the only one playing around with catchy release dates (See: The Omen 666), as it appears New Line is gearing up yet another Friday the 13th film. And why don't we take a wild guess as to when it's coming out. Yep, Jason is coming back for a 12th time (I like to consider him a part of the first one) and he'll attack theaters on Friday, October 13th. As Bloody-Disgusting points out, there should really only be one standard release date for a film called Friday the 13th. I mean, c'mon.

As far as plot goes, it appears they will be revisiting Jason's origins. I'm not sure if that means we'll be going back in time for this one or maybe it will take place in the present, using flashbacks to recall the past. Either way, I'm glad, because these kinds of stories are always the most interesting in the beginning.

Should this "back where it all began" approach work for hockey mask man, look for friends Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger to follow. Too bad Myers got locked up so young, because I'd love to see a Halloween: The Teenage Years. I imagine the tagline would read: Who knew puberty could be so deadly.

[via AICN]