Think E.T, Top Gun, Armageddon, Iron Man – what do these have in common? Their release dates. Hollywood loves summer, and it generally lines up its biggest movies pegging them to make pots of money and delivering on the ideal of a ‘summer blockbuster’.
Speaking of which, 2015 has some great contenders for the elusive title of this year’s ‘Hollywood Summer Blockbuster’. There are big movies, small movies with great actors and the return of some of the most of interesting directors. We take a closer look:
1. Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron (Superhero)
Joss Whedon owned the first collaboration of the Marvel Universe, by making a film that is funny, delivers on the action, and is at its bare minimum – a tight film. He brings back all heroes against the antagonist Ultron (voiced by James Spader) and if the first trailer is anything to go by, the film will be a lot of fun!
Release date: 24 April, 2015 (India)
2. Furious 7 (Action)
The seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise which made all the wrong headlines because of the death of its lead actor Paul Walker. However, the film was completed and automobile junkies can look forward to an orgasmic film – looking at that first trailer. Jason Statham will be the antagonist to Vin Diesel and Paul Walker’s heroic car chases.
Release date: 3 April, 2015 (India)
3. Jurassic World (Sci-Fi/Adventure)
Dinosaurs up for the summer! After the franchise was put on hibernation for more than a decade, it is set to open up the park gates this June. Chris Pratt has joined the wagon of Jurassic Park, which became such a wonder when Spielberg was at the helm of the first two movies. Looks like a joyride for the first-timers…
Release date: 12 June, 2015 (India)
4. Tomorrowland (Fantasy/Sci-Fi)
Brad Bird’s outing with Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol) might not have been that great – but his next film came into news even before they began shooting. The reason? George Clooney and Hugh Laurie came on board for it and everyone was fascinated by the concept of an alternate reality world, set in the future. So here it is –
Release date: 20 May, 2015 (USA)
5. Ant Man (Superhero)
Marvel’s Ant Man is all set to take over the screens with funny-man Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas in lead roles. This is the first film that this comic book hero has ever gotten made and the unconventional casting of Rudd and the enigmatic Douglas has been the talking point around the movie. Ah! Can’t do anything about the name.
Release date: 16 July, 2015 (USA)
6. Ted 2 (Comedy)
Seth MacFarlane returns as the writer, director and the voice of the filth-spouting teddy bear – Ted. If the filth in the trailer where semen, butt-cracks are liberally used as plot points, is anything to go by – Ted 2 is going to be as much as fun as the first! Joining Seth Macfarlane and Mark Wahlberg are Amanda Seyfried and Morgan Freeman in the sequel.
Release date: 25 June, 2015 (USA)
7. Pan (Fantasy fiction)
After filming a string of English classics like Pride & Prejudice, Joe Wright is now presenting to us the classic tale of Peter Pan. The film re-tells the adventures of Peter Pan in Neverland with Hugh Jackman playing Black Beard, Amanda Seyfried and Rooney Mara playing pivotal roles.
Release date: 15 July, 2015 (USA)
8. Fantastic Four (Superhero)
It is Marvel again! They are having a ball this summer, with three releases in the span of 2 months. This one is a reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise with an origins story about Mr Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing. The exciting thing is the guy at the helm of this movie is Josh Trank, who made the widely appreciated ‘Chronicle’.
Release date: 8 July, 2015 (USA)
9. Entourage (Comedy)
Join Vince, E, Ari, Drama and Turtle as they get back to their funny ways in Hollywood land as Vince goes ahead with his directorial debut with the help of Ari raising a loan of a 100 million dollars with backing from a Texas Billionaire (Billy Bob Thornton) – if the film fails, they all go back to Queens.
Release date: 5 June, 2015 (USA)
10. Mad Max: Fury Road (Fantasy-SciFi-Action)
Rebooting the Mad Max franchise after nearly 30 years is director George Miller with Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult as the star cast. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic future where Mad Max (Hardy) meets Furiosa (Theron) as they intend to cross the desert in the midst of some mind-boggling action scenes.
Release date: 15 May, 2015 (USA)
11. Magic Mike XXL (Comedy)
After the resounding success of Magic Mike, the boys from Tampa, Florida are back as they take a road-trip to Myrtle Beach for a stripper’s convention. Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello are reprising their roles for the same.
Release date: 1 July, 2015 (USA)
12. Aloha (Romantic Comedy)
Cameron Crowe is back with his latest featuring an all-star cast including Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, John Krasinski and Bill Murray. Following the story of a middle-aged man (Cooper) as he moves back to his old job in Hawaii and tries to make sense of life.
Release date: 29 May, 2015 (USA)
13. Minions (Animated-Comedy)
After they shot to fame in the Despicable Me series, they have landed their own origins movie. These cuties are looking for a master and they begin with a T-Rex and make their way to New York, 1968. If the trailer is to be believed, we have a brilliant entertainer on our hands!
Release date: 10 July, 2015 (India)
14. Terminator: Genisys (Sci Fi-Action )
Arnold is back! After Salvation didn’t quite save the franchise with a suitable end, the makers are giving it another shot in the hands of Alan Taylor – director of Thor: The Dark World. Along with Arnold, the film stars Emilia ‘Khaleesi’ Clarke from Game of Thrones and Jason Clarke, as they make a final bid to finish the war against Skynet.
Release date: 3 July, 2015 (India)
15. San Andreas (Disaster Movie)
Dwayne Johnson and Paul Giamatti star in this disaster movie, as America (as always) is falling apart and the eye-popping visuals are more than enough reason to go in with a tub of popcorn for this one!
Release Date: 29 May, 2015 (USA)
16. Mission Impossible V: Rogue Nation (Action-Adventure-Spy)
Tom Cruise is back with the fifth installment of his spy series “Mission Impossible” and from whatever little we could gather from the trailer, the film follows ‘Rogue Nation’ – an army run by a crime syndicate, which one of the characters describes as an anti-IMF. of course we expect a lot of adrenaline-pumping action sequences, given the star’s reputation.
Release date: 31 July, 2015 (USA)
Just in case you feel like it is a lot of work reading through all that text, we also made this exhaustive video about the movies we’re most excited about in the form of a video compilation