Movie trailers can be considered an art themselves, a bad movie may have a great trailer and a good movie could have a bad trailer, but often they’re the best visual preview of what a film might be and that’s why we watch them. This past week, we got new looks at trailers from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, In the Heart of the Sea, Warcraft, The Hateful Eight, London Has Fallen, Kung Fu Panda 3, and much more. Catch up on the latest trailers below.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Synopsis: 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the epic space saga continues.
Release Date: December 17, 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writer: Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt
Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendolyn Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, and Max Von Sydow.
In the Heart of the Sea
Synopsis: In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. “Heart of the Sea” reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
Release Date: December 11, 2015
Genre: Drama, Action, Adventure
Director: Ron Howard
Writer: Charles Leavitt
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Tom Holland, Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, and Jordi Molla.
Anomalisa
Synopsis: Michael Stone, husband, father and respected author of “How May I Help You Help Them?” is a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati, where he’s scheduled to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming Akron baked goods sales rep, Lisa, who may or may not be the love of his life. A beautifully tender and absurdly humorous dreamscape, from the brilliant minds of Charlie Kaufman (SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK) and Duke Johnson (“Community” episode, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas), this stop-motion animation wonder features the vocal cast of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis and a stirring strings-based score by Carter Burwell.
Release Date: December 30, 2015 (Limited Release), January 2016 (Wide Release)
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama
Director: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: David Thewlis, Jennifer Lason Leigh, and Tom Noonan.
Girls (Season 5)
Synopsis: Follow the life experiences of a group of girls in their early 20s.
Release Date: February 21, 2016 (HBO)
Genre: Comedy, Drama (TV Series)
Creator: Lena Dunham
Starring: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, Andrew Rannells, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Jake Lacy.
Kung Fu Panda 3
Synopsis: In 2016, one of the most successful animated franchises in the world returns with its biggest comedy adventure yet, KUNG FU PANDA 3. When Po’s long-lost panda father suddenly reappears, the reunited duo travels to a secret panda paradise to meet scores of hilarious new panda characters. But when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible—learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas!
Release Date: January 29, 2016
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Director: Jennifer Yuh, Alessandro Carloni
Writer: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Starring: Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, J.K. Simmons, Kate Hudson, James Hong, and Randall Duk Kim.
Chi-Raq
Synopsis: Chi-Raq is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago’s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.
Release Date: December 4, 2015
Genre: Drama
Director: Spike Lee
Writer: Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, Wesley Snipes, Nick Cannon, Angela Bassett, John Cusack, Teyonah Parris, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Lennix, and Steve Harris.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (Red Band)
Synopsis: An American Ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya and a security team has trouble dealing with the surrounding chaos.
Release date: January 15, 2016
Genre: Drama, Action, Thriller
Director: Michael Bay
Writer: Chuck Hogan
Starring: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, David Giuntoli, Badge Dale, and David Constable.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Synopsis: In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.
Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit (Sheen), Absolem (Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Fry) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway) sends Alice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends – and enemies – at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out. Presented in Digital 3D™, Real D 3D and IMAX® 3D, Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” opens in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.
Release Date: May 27, 2016
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Director: James Bobin
Writer: Linda Woolverton
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Ed Speelers, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Toby Jones, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse, and Barbara Windsor.
The Hateful Eight
Synopsis: In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…
Release Date: January 8, 2016
Genre: Western
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Demian Bichir, Bruce Dern, and Channing Tatum.
Secret in their Eyes
Synopsis: Written and directed by Academy Award® nominee Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games), and produced by Academy Award® winner Mark Johnson (Rain Man, “Breaking Bad”), Secret In Their Eyes is an intense, powerful, haunting thriller starring Academy Award® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Academy Award® winners Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts.
A tight-knit team of rising investigators – Ray (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Jess (Julia Roberts), along with their supervisor Claire (Nicole Kidman) – is suddenly torn apart when they discover that Jess’s teenage daughter has been brutally and inexplicably murdered.
Now, thirteen years later, after obsessively searching every day for the elusive killer, Ray finally uncovers a new lead that he’s certain can permanently resolve the case, nail the vicious murderer, and bring long-desired closure to his team. No one is prepared, however, for the shocking, unspeakable secret that will reveal the enduring, destructive effects of personal vengeance on the human soul.
Release Date: November 20, 2015
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Director: Billy Ray
Writer: Billy Ray
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, and Nicole Kidman
Concussion
Synopsis: Based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic neuropathologist that made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma.
Release Date: December 25, 2015
Genre: Sport, Drama
Director: Peter Landesman
Writer: Peter Landesman
Starring: Will Simth, David Morse, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Stephen Moyer, Alec Baldwin, and Luke Wilson.
London Has Fallen
The sequel to the worldwide smash hit “Olympus Has Fallen,” a non-stop, suspenseful action thriller that delivers high-octane excitement through a heightened sense of authenticity. The visceral intensity springs from a timely premise: after the British Prime Minister passes away, his funeral becomes a target of a terrorist organization to destroy some of the world’s most powerful leaders, devastate the British capital, and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. The only hope of stopping it rests on the shoulders of the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) and his formidable Secret Service head (Gerard Butler), and an English MI-6 agent (Charlotte Riley) who rightly trusts no one. Morgan Freeman also stars as the Vice President of the United States.
Release Date: March 14, 2016
Genre: Crime, Action, Thriller
Director: Babak Najafi
Writer: Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt, Christian Gudegast, Chad St. John.
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Alon Moni Aboutboul, Robert Forster, Jackie Earle Haley, Melissa Leo, Radha Mitchell, Sean O’Bryan, Charlotte Riley and Waleed Zuaiter.
Warcraft
Synopsis: The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.
Release Date: June 10, 2016
Genre: Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Director: Duncan Jones
Writer: Duncan Jones, Charles Leavitt,
Starring: Toby Kebbell, Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Rob Kazinsky,Ben Foster, Daniel Wu, and Clancy Brown.