The movie studio executives play God around this time every year. Don't listen to mother nature ... summer starts May 1. The blockbusters are upon us, and it looks like May might just be THE big month of movies this year. Sure, we have to wait for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, but we've already been waiting for that last one for a while now. And it looks like each week we will have a new box office winner ... my hunch is Wolverine will have the biggest opening weekend, but when it's all said and done, Star Trek will be box office king. Let's get to the films.
May 1
Movie of the Week X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Stars: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will I Am, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch
The Plot: After the death of his girlfriend, Wolverine (Jackman) is hell bent on revenge, which brings him face to face with Sabertooth (Schreiber). But before that, he's brought into the mutant Weapon X program.
The Buzz: Here's the thing, I know 20th Century Fox is insanely upset with a leaked, unfinished copy hitting the Internet, but it DOES NOT MATTER. So far, no movie has succeeded or bombed because of Internet buzz. And anyone who saw the unfinished product, is going to be die hard enough to make sure they see it in the theater. X-men: The Last Stand was not a good flick, this one needs to be top notch to bring audiences back.
The Others: Battle for Terra - animated Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner The Limits of Control - Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton The Merry Gentleman - Michael Keaton, Kelly Macdonald
May 8
Movie of the Week Star Trek
The Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy
The Plot: This is the voyage of the starship USS Enterprise, with a twist. A hell-bent Romulan (Bana) shifts time and is out to destroy Spock (Quinto, Nimoy). A black hole twists the past, but Kirk (Pine) and the rest of the starfleet soldiers still graduate and are brought together on the Enterprise to defend Vulcan and Earth from a massive, destructive ship.
The Buzz: J.J. Abrams has the weight of the Trekkie world on his shoulders ... but is that a bad thing? Who's hands would you rather have this in? We'll see if Eric Bana's presence as the bad guy is enough to lift the rest of this fairly unknown cast.
The Others: Adoration - Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard Julia - Tilda Swinton Little Ashes - Robert Pattinson, Javier Beltrán Next Day Air - Donald Faison, Mos Def Rudo y Cursi - Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna
May 15
Movie of the Week Angels & Demons
The Stars: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård, Armin Mueller-Stahl
The Plot: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks) must solve a murder quickly in order to prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.
The Buzz: So far ... none. Hanks didn't shine in 2006's The Da Vinci Code even though audiences flocked. It will be interesting to see if they give him another shot.
The Others: The Brothers Bloom - Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz Management - Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn Not Forgotten - Simon Baker, Paz Vega Summer Hours - Juliette Binoche
May 22
Movie of the Week Terminator Salvation (opens May 21)
The Stars: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common
The Plot: Once again, the machines are out for blood. After a nuclear holocaust, there aren't many survivors, and it's up to John Connor (Bale) to lead the humans to victory against the machines.
The Buzz: Christian Bale's on set tantrum helped give this film a pop culture boost, but who knows if that will translate into an extra boost at the box office.
The Others: Dance Flick - Damon Wayans Jr., Shawn Wayans Easy Virtue - Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes The Girlfriend Experience - Sasha Grey, Mark Jacobson Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - Ben Stiller, Amy Adams
May 29
Movie of the Week Up
The Stars: voices of Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Delroy Lindo, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger
The Plot: A man decided to leave the surface of Earth and take to the sky in a make-shift balloon ride that lifts his whole house from the ground. Problem is, a kid accidentally comes along for the ride.
The Buzz: How can you not be suspect of this thing? It's got an old animated man for the lead, and it looks like he and the little kid just go for a balloon ride. Oh wait, it's Pixar. Nevermind, this will be genius.
The Others: Departures - Masahiro Motoki Drag Me to Hell - Alison Lohman, Justin Long Pontypool - Stephen McHattie
(all film release dates subject to change)