This year there have been the expected sequels to all those big, fat franchises — >Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice , >Captain America Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse next week. There have also been unexpected sequels. >London has Fallen (secret service agent Banning has to save the known world one more time), >The Huntsman: Winter’s War (a somewhat sequel/prequel to the underwhelming Snow White and Huntsman ), >10 Cloverfield Lane that producer JJ Abrams called a spiritual successor to Cloverfield and this week’s >My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 . In the sequel stakes, here are some surprises that nevertheless should be worth looking out for.
Alice Through the Looking Glass - (May 27)
In 2010 Tim Burton gave a quirky interpretation to the Lewis Carroll classic with Johnny Depp playing the Mad Hatter. Through the Looking Glass directed by James Bobin sees Depp, Mia Wasikowska (Alice), Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen), Anne Hathaway (White Queen), Alan Rickman (Caterpillar), Stephen Fry (Cheshire Cat), Michael Sheen (the White Rabbit) and Timothy Spall (Bloodhound) reprise their roles.
Sacha Baron Cohen plays Time. Unlike the book, the movie takes off three years after the events of Alice in Wonderland and sees Alice turning back the clock to rescue the Mad Hatter. Wonder if Jabberwocky will make an appearance.
Independence Day: Resurgence - (June 22)
It is 20 years since Jeff Goldblum sneezed and figured out he could infect the wicked alien ship with a virus and defeat them in Independence Day . Directed and co-written Roland Emmerich, the film starred Goldblum as an environmentally conscious computer expert, Bill Pullman as the president of the United States and Will Smith as dare devil pilot as Captain Steven Hiller. Apparently before dying of a cold, the aliens sent a distress message, which the fellow aliens heard after 20 years — what does that tell you about their communication systems? Will Smith does not return to the sequel, unlike Goldblum and Pullman. There have been many epic disaster films since the fireworks of ID , wonder if Dean Devlin (writer-producer) and Emmerich will be able to recreate the magic.
Jason Bourne - (July 29)
Officially the fifth in the series, but 2012’s The Bourne Legacy was too much legacy and no Bourne. Matt Damon takes a break from growing potatoes and colonising mars to return as Jason Bourne. Directed by Paul Greengrass who helmed The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), the film has Julia Styles reprise her role as Nicky Parsons. Tommy Lee Jones plays CIA director while Riz Ahmed is a tech specialist at the CIA. Years after he dropped out of sight in New York, Bourne surfaces with his memory all intact to a new, troubled world.
Bridget Jones’ Baby - (September 16)
The film has nothing to do with Helen Fielding’s third book about our favourite singleton’s adventures in the world of Twitter, Mad About the Boy . Directed by Sharon Maguire, Bridget Jones’ Baby has Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth returning to their roles and Bridget and Mark Darcy. Instead of Hugh Grant as the smarmy Daniel Cleaver, Patrick Dempsey will be the new angle in the love triangle. The film finds Bridget in her forties, having split with Mark and deciding to concentrate on her career. Just when she had everything sorted, Bridget meets a dashing American and gets pregnant.
Jack Reacher: Never go Back - (October 21)
Of course Tom Cruise looks very different from our mental picture of the nomadic ex-military policeman of Lee Child’s bestselling books — one of the fun things to do is to work out who would have made a better Reacher. If Mel Gibson were younger, he would have been a perfect fit of quiet, manic, brawn. Jack Reacher in 2012 directed by Christopher McQuarrie was based on Child’s One Shot . It was an adequate adaptation and Robert Duvall had the best lines. Based on Child’s novel of the same name, Never go Back is directed by Edward Zwick who last worked with Cruise on The last Samurai . Never go Back has Reacher accused of homicide and news that he might have a daughter.
(The above is a trailer of Jack Reacher that released in 2012)
