Much of the weekend’s buzz surrounds the release of DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Even so, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of other yet-to-be-released movies on the horizon. This week’s staff picks include a different kind of Batman movie, a retelling of one of the worst environmental disasters in American history, and lots more. Strap in, because trailer season is officially heating up.
1. The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Snow White and the Huntsman was a peculiar movie when it released back in 2012. It arrived just when gritty, live-action reworks were beginning to pop up left and right, and for the most part it was dubbed a CGI-laden misfire. Despite its modest $396 million box office take, Universal apparently saw fit to try a prequel story anyway, coming in the form of a standalone Huntsman movie. Charlize Theron returns to reprise her role as the evil queen, this time taking on Emily Blunt as the gritty, unlicensed reimagining of Frozen‘s Elsa we never asked for. But hey, at least it looks pretty?
2. Silicon Valley, Season 3
Mike Judge is established as the foremost creative mind when it comes to portraying the modern workplace, and has been ever since Office Space. As the workplace as evolved, so has his writing, all culminating in the elegantly hilarious Silicon Valley, now heading into Season 3 with a full head of steam. Season 2 saw our main character, Richard (Thomas Middleditch) ousted from his own company, and the new episodes will focus heavily on his attempt to peel himself off the mat. Hollywood everyman Stephen Tobolowsky joins the cast, as the replacement CEO for Pied Piper, and is introduced in the latest trailer released by HBO.
3. LEGO Batman
Poor reviews for Batman v Superman have led us down a strange path, and all the way toward one, offhand thought: Is the best Batman-related movie from Warner Bros. really going to come in LEGO form? The first trailer for the follow-up to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s wildly popular LEGO Movie seems to be everything Batman v Superman isn’t, namely full of joy, humor, and just enough self-awareness to keep it honest. It’s the Dark Knight in a refreshingly different format, and a much-needed break from Warner’s typically grim approach to superheroes.
4. Star Wars: Rebels, The Rise and Fall of a Friendship
While the Star Wars prequel movies stumbled awkwardly through Anakin Skywalker’s origin, the Clone Wars cartoon series was telling the most compelling Anakin-related story in the entire saga. That’s about to come full circle on Rebels, as Ahsoka Tano faces the prospect of coming face-to-face with her friend-turned-villain, Darth Vader. The series’s second season wraps up with a two-part finale beginning next week, so for now, this trailer teasing at the climactic showdown will have to suffice.
5. Deepwater Horizon
We’re seeing more and more movies surfacing about “a story based on true events,” centered around unheralded American heroes saving lives as they battle the elements. Deepwater Horizon though, while billed as such a movie, is still deeply problematic. The deep-drilling rig explosion and subsequent oil spill wasn’t a force of nature akin to a frightening storm a la The Finest Hours. Rather, it was a man-made ecological disaster that became the biggest oil spill in American waters in our nation’s history. Perhaps it’s merely the way the movie is being sold in the trailer, but this one looks bound to stir up controversy.
Follow Nick on Twitter @NickNorthwest
More from Entertainment Cheat Sheet:
- 5 Villains Who Should Fight Batman in a Live Action Movie
- The Real Reason Superman Is the Most Boring Movie Hero
- Did ‘Deadpool’ Change ‘Batman v Superman’?