Some studios might be pulling back on the number of films that they’re releasing in the coming months, but Warners, boosted by a successful 2013, is looking to fill any potential gaps with a bumper crop of movies.
At the studio’s presentation on Thursday, it rolled out a roster of big names to pimp their upcoming efforts including Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman and director Wally Pfister for Transcendence; Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler and their shot-caller Frank Coraci for Blended; cinematic legend Clint Eastwood offering a first look at the **Jersey Boys **musical adaptation and a charmingly nervous, clearly exhausted Gareth Edwards, who arrived straight from locking picture on Godzilla to cue up an extended trailer.
Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis took the stage to somewhat stiffly read teleprompted remarks before showing the new trailer for Jupiter Ascending (which you may have seen here), while Tammy actress Melissa McCarthy and husband/co-writer/director Ben Falcone brought out the laughs by riffing on the old joke about a star sleeping with their director. Falcone said he’d sexed up three of his cast, McCarthy bested him with four.
Though Tom Cruise wasn’t present, an extended version of the latest Edge Of Tomorrow trailer played, and we got a reel celebrating 16 years of Peter Jackson’s work in Middle-earth, including a blink-and-you’ll miss them set of shots from The Hobbit: There And Back Again.
Tornado thriller Into The Storm had stars Richard Armitage and Sarah Wayne Callies, as well as director Steven Quale, on hand to introduce the new trailer, which you’ll find lurking here. And those (aside from the latest Hobbit, which arrives in December) were just the summer films. Warners’ hefty slate also includes a variety of other movies that were briefly given clips including** Horrible Bosses 2** and If I Stay, adapted from Gayle Forman’s metaphysical novel and starring Chloe Grace Moretz.
Quantity was on the studio’s mind today – now comes the test of quality with audiences at the box office…