‘Identity Thief,’ ‘Movie 43’ among upcoming releases
1. “Oz the Great and Powerful”
Director Sam Raimi plans to capture the same movie magic that made “Alice in Wonderland” such a hit in 2010. A prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” “Oz the Great and Powerful” will star James Franco as an unethical circus magician hurled into the land of Oz. Michelle Williams will star as Glinda the Good Witch, while Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis play the wicked witches of the East and West. Out March 8.
2. “Warm Bodies”
Director Jonathan Levine (“50/50”) will be teaching George A. Romero a lesson Beatles-style, proving that all you need is love when it comes to fighting zombies. Nicolas Hoult is a zombie named R, who saves a human survivor named Julie (Teresa Palmer) and learns there is still some humanity left within himself and every other zombie in the world. Summit Entertainment will really be relying on this movie to make up for the loss of its recently completed money-grabber, the “Twilight” series. Out Feb. 1.
3. “A Good Day to Die Hard”
Valentine’s Day usually means it’s time to drag your insignificant other to see another sappy romance film. But If Nicolas Sparks’ “Safe Haven” sounds too mushy, might I suggest seeing the fourth “Die Hard” sequel and watching John McClane (Bruce Willis) dish out another “yippee-ki-yay, mother******”? Actually, in this sequel, it’s “Mother Russia” since John travels to Russia to help his son Jack (Jai Courtney) take down a rogue Russian leader who escaped from prison. Out Feb. 14.
4. “Oblivion”
Tom Cruise stars in his first science-fiction film since 2005’s “War of the Worlds,” and he really has been on a hot streak lately with his action films. In “Oblivion,” most of mankind has been eliminated, with Earth along with it. Cruise plays a drone repairman for an aircraft responsible for extracting vital resources left over from a war against a threat known as the Scavs. The visuals already look stunning, but can everything about the film be equally great? In theaters April 19.
5. “Movie 43”
I’ve seen two trailers for this film and even visited the official website, and I’m still not exactly sure what this movie is. Peter Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) has assembled a gigantic cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Emma Stone and almost everyone else in Hollywood, paired them up with 11 different directors and created a series of short films meant to be outrageously and offensively hilarious. It already looks to be one of the most original comedies created, but the hilarity could still go either way. In theaters Jan. 25.
6. “Spring Breakers”
“Spring Breakers” was actually released last year at a couple of film festivals, but it was never official released for general audiences. It looks like it might be nothing more than pure titillation for guys, but it could turn out to be one of those surprise hits. Four girls (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine) rob a restaurant to finance their spring break trip to Florida. James Franco also has a role as a drug dealer who busts the girls out of jail but expects them to do his dirty work in return. In theaters March 29.
7. “The Host”
After the overwhelming success of the movie adaptations of her “Twilight” novels, it didn’t take the movie industry long to try and capitalize on Stephenie Meyer’s other book project, “The Host.” This movie is apparently more science fiction than romance, with mankind becoming hosts to parasitic aliens called “souls” that have possessed their minds. This movie also seems to have better acting talent, with Saoirse Ronan (“Atonement”) playing the heroine. Out March 29.
8. “42”
So far, we’ve seen that this season has action, romance, science fiction and comedy to offer. But if none of that appeals to your taste, maybe a sports docudrama about legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson will. Starring Chadwick Boseman (“The Express”), the movie will focus on Robinson’s road to breaking the color barrier in baseball. Harrison Ford will star as Dodger’s general manager Branch Rickey, the man who saw something in Robinson that nobody else did. In theaters April 12.
9. “Identity Thief” and “The Heat”
This winter and spring, Melissa McCarthy will be taking the comedy world by storm. America’s favorite comedic actress, who stole the show in “Bridesmaids,” will be starring in not one but two comedies this year. The first, “Identity Thief,” will have her star opposite of Jason Bateman as a con artist who commits identity theft and uses the credentials of Bateman’s character to live it up in Miami. The second, “The Heat,” has her teaming with Sandra Bullock as police detectives who track down a Russian mobster. In theaters Feb. 8 and April 5.