If you haven’t yet had your fill of sequels this summer season, have no fear. There’s three big ones coming to the silver screen this fall. Four actually. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was already covered in another post that you may peruse here:
We begin with Thor: The Dark World, the follow-up to 2011’s original which grossed an impressive $181 million. Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hiddleston are all back. Certainly the exposure of Thor in The Avengers should help the numbers. Iron Man 3 got an Avengers bump this summer as it opened stronger than the second installment. Kenneth Branagh is not back as director (he’ll have Jack Ryan in December… more on that film in another post). Now it’s Alan Taylor behind the camera. He’s known mostly for his TV work, having directed episodes of “The Sopranos”, “Mad Men”, and “Game of Thrones”. Thor: The Dark World is out November 8.
November 27th brings us The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second pic in that franchise. In the spring of last year, the original earned a fantastic $408 million domestically and the sequel is likely to have the highest opening of any movie this fall. Once again, we have a new director taking over. Gary Ross is out and Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is in. Jennifer Lawrence (a newly minted Oscar winner since the original’s release), Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, and Stanley Tucci all return with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, and Amanda Plummer joining the mix.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second of the trilogy and Peter Jackson’s pic will look to match the $303 million domestic performance of last winter’s original. The familiar faces return: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, and Christopher Lee, among others. While the first was a big hit, critical reaction was mixed and we’ll see if the reviews for Desolation keep that trend going or move it into Lord of the Rings acclaimed territory. The picture will be released December 13.
That’s all for now, my friends! I’ll be back with another installment of my 2013 Fall Movie Preview soon enough.
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