Film Friday (5/22): This Week's New Movies & Trailers

Metacritic
Updated

This article, Film Friday (5/22): This Week's New Movies & Trailers , originally appeared on Metacritic .

Opening this weekend



Nationwide releases .
Tomorrowland PG ADVENTURE/SCI-FI
Trailer(s)

Pixar veteran Brad Bird’s second live-action feature (following 2011’s Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) tells the story of a former boy genius played by George Clooney, a curious teenager played by Britt Robertson, and a mythical place called Tomorrowland (which bears a not-coincidental resemblance to the one in Disney's theme parks). Hugh Laurie, Judy Greer, Kathryn Hahn, and Keegan-Michael Key also star. Written by Bird and Damon Lindelof (Lost), the film had been as shrouded in mystery as any release this year. Now that critics have seen it, they're a little disappointed.

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Poltergeist PG-13 HORROR
Trailer(s)

Gil Kenan (City of Ember) directs this remake of the Steven Spielberg-produced 1982 haunted house classic. The details have been updated a bit to reflect today's world, but the story remains largely the same—with the results disappointingly lifeless and tame, according to most critics. Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Jared Harris star.

Notable limited and/or VOD releases .
When Marnie Was There PG ANIMATION/FAMILY
Trailer(s)

Famed Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli’s 20th (and possibly final) feature film is based on Joan G. Robinson’s 1967 children’s novel about a lonely girl named Anna who meets an unexpected friend in Marnie. In this English-language update, Hailee Steinfeld, Kiernan Shipka, Kathy Bates, John C. Reilly, Ellen Burstyn, Geena Davis, Catherine O’Hara, and Vanessa Williams provide the voices.

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The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) NR HORROR
Trailer(s)

The final segment in Tom Six's gross-out horror series (if you somehow don't know what the films are about, do yourself a favor and never find out) follows the 2010 original and its 2011 sequel. At press time, the new film was not only cementing its place as 2015's lowest-scoring film but was also threatening to go down as one of the worst-reviewed films of the century.

Additional limited and/or VOD releases (in alphabetical order) .
Aloft R DRAMA

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Chocolate City R DRAMA

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Drunk Wedding R COMEDY — Alamo Drafthouse exclusive (also on VOD)

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The Farewell Party NR FOREIGN/DRAMEDY

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Güeros NR FOREIGN/COMEDY

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Into the Grizzly Maze R THRILLER — Pre-theatrical VOD release (in theaters 6/26)

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The Japanese Dog NR FOREIGN/DRAMA

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Love at First Fight NR FOREIGN/ROM-COM

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Quiet Riot: Well Now You're Here, There's No Way Back NR DOCUMENTARY/MUSIC

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Seeds of Time NR DOCUMENTARY

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Something Better to Come NR FOREIGN/DOCUMENTARY

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Sunshine Superman NR DOCUMENTARY

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Tanu Weds Manu Returns NR FOREIGN/COMEDY


All movies now in theaters... | New on DVD/Blu-ray... | New on Netflix... | New on Amazon Instant Video...

New trailers and updates for upcoming films


Becoming Peter Pan

Joe Wright (Atonement, Anna Karenina) directs Pan, an original story by Jason Fuchs that imagines the beginnings of J.M. Barrie’s classic character, Peter Pan. Levi Miller plays Peter, a 12-year-old boy who is whisked away from his orphanage to a world of pirates, fairies, and mermaids called Neverland. There, with the help of Tiger Lilly (Rooney Mara) and James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), he battles the feared Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) to save Neverland. Originally expected to debut this summer, Pan now lands in 2D and 3D theaters on October 9th.


One more thing ...

From Sony to Universal; from David Fincher to Danny Boyle; from Christian Bale to Michael Fassbender. Steve Jobs, a biopic based on Walter Isaacson’s book and written by Aaron Sorkin, has taken a long road to its first trailer, but here it is with Fassbender in the title role, Seth Rogen as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Kate Winslet as marketing chief Joanna Hoffman, and Jeff Daniels as one-time Apple CEO John Sculley. Find it in theaters beginning October 9th.

Out of the maze and into the fire

The sequel to The Maze Runner finds Thomas (Dylan Baker) and his fellow Gladers (Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Ki Hong Lee.) trying to piece together clues about WCKD. This takes them to the Scorch, where they meet a group of resistance fighters and begin to discover WCKD’s plans. Wes Ball returns to direct from a script by T.S. Nowlin based on the book by James Dashner, and the cast includes Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, and Patricia Clarkson. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials hits theaters September 18th.

Sundance winner Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize as well as the Audience Award at Sundance this year, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl introduces its three main characters right there in the title. Thomas Mann (Project X) plays Greg Gaines (the titular “me”), a movie-obsessed teenager whose only friend is his cinephile buddy, Earl (RJ Cyler). That changes when his mother (Connie Britton) forces him to hang out with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), who is battling leukemia. With excellent early reviews and a supporting cast that includes Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon and Jon Bernthal, this second (and very different) feature by director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (The Town that Dreaded Sundown) comes to select theaters June 12th. Check out the new international trailer below and the first two clips.

We Are Your Friends

Zac Efron stars as Cole, a would-be DJ who must choose between his friends and the future he wants in We Are Your Friends. Max Joseph makes his feature directorial debut from a script co-written with Meaghan Oppenheimer. Wes Bentley also stars as an older DJ who helps Efron’s Cole, only to have Cole fall for his girlfriend, played by Emily Ratajkowski. Follow the thumping bass to a theater near you on August 28th.

Dope goes red-band

The fourth feature from writer-director Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood, Brown Sugar, Our Family Wedding) looks at the lives of Malcolm (Shameik Moore) and his friends Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) as they try to survive as geeks in the dangerous Inglewood, CA neighborhood known as The Bottoms. But a chance invitation to an underground party and a bag of drugs puts them on a “slippery slope.” With good reviews from its premiere at Sundance this year and a supporting cast that includes Zoë Kravitz, Blake Anderson, Chanel Iman, and A$AP Rocky, Dope hits theaters June 19th.

Cooties!

A zombie epidemic in an elementary school is the premise for the zom-com Cooties, co-written by Ian Brennan (Glee) and Leigh Whannell (Saw) and co-directed by Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion. Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Nasim Pedrad, and Whannell star as teachers trying to outlast their prepubescent attackers. Find it on VOD and in theaters beginning September 18th.

Shaun the Sheep

Coming to North American theaters August 7th after receiving good reviews from its release in the UK is the latest animated film from Aardman Animations (Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit). Written and directed by Mark Burton and Richard Starzack, Shaun the Sheep follows the titular Shaun as he decides to take the day off and have some fun. But when a mix-up lands all the sheep in the Big City, they must find a way home.

Kevin James kills a Smurf

When classic arcade games attack the Earth, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) calls in his childhood friend, a video game champ played by Adam Sandler, and a few other arcaders (Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad) to help save the world. With the help of Michelle Monaghan’s Lt. Col. Violet Van Patten, they take on Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, and other classic characters. Directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) and also starring Brian Cox, Jane Krakowski, Sean Bean, and Ashley Benson, Pixels opens July 24th.

Short takes

Senna director Asif Kapadia’s latest documentary, Amy, looks at the tragic life of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse. Check out our Cannes wrap-up on Monday for early reviews and find it in New York and Los Angeles on July 3rd and in additional cities beginning July 10th.

Swedish director Roy Andersson’s latest, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, comes to select theaters June 3rd.

Batkid Begins looks at the flash phenomenon surrounding one 5-year-old cancer patient’s wish. Look for it in select theaters beginning June 26th.

Coming to theaters July 10th, The Gallows follows a group of high school students who make some very poor decisions.

10,000 km tracks a long-distance relationship between Alex (Natalia Tena) and Sergi (David Verdaguer). Find it in select theaters July 10th.

7 Minutes is all it takes to ruin your life in this June 26th feature film debut from music video director Jay Martin.

News and notes

  • The sequel to World War Z arrives on June 9, 2017.

  • Reese Witherspoon will star as Tinker Bell in Tink, a live-action take on the classic fairy character. - Heat Vision

  • Robert De Niro will play an insult comic in The Comedian. Mike Newell will direct from a script by Art Linson (What Just Happened?) that also features stand-up material written by Jeffrey Ross. - Deadline

  • Actor Jay Baruchel will make his directorial debut with Goon: Last of the Enforcers, a sequel to 2011’s Goon starring Seann William Scott, who will return as Doug “the Thug” Glatt. - THR

  • Andrea Riseborough is in talks to play the villain Top Dollar in The Crow. Jack Huston will play the title character, and Corin Hardy (The Hallows) will direct. - Deadline

  • Peter Sarsgaard will play the villain in director Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven. - Variety

  • Ed Zwick is in talks to direct the Jack Reacher sequel, reuniting him with his The Last Samurai star Tom Cruise. - Deadline

  • Kristen Stewart will reunite with her Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas and star in Personal Shopper, a ghost story that takes place in the world of fashion. - Variety

  • Variety reports that Floria Sigismondi (The Runaways) is attached to direct an adaptation of Joe McGinniss Jr.’s novel The Delivery Man, set in the world of Las Vegas teenage call girls, and Bouncer, a Western comic book series by Alejandro Jodorosky and Francois Boucq.

  • Will Ferrell will play a “struggling nightclub performer” for director Lasse Hallström in Tom’s Dad. - Variety

  • Jack Black will reunite with his Nacho Libre director, Jared Hess, for the comedy Micronations. /Film has the full press release.

  • Tim Meadows and Imogen Poots have joined Andy Samberg in the cast of the Lonely Island feature Conner4real. - Deadline & TheWrap

  • Lake Bell, Benjamin Bratt, Jon Bernthal, Omari Hardwick, Emory Cohen, and Jeffrey Donovan have joined Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Snitch director Ric Roman Waugh’s thriller Shot Caller. - TheWrap

  • Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) has joined Demián Bichir, Eva Longoria, Tony Revolori, Gabriel Chavarria, Theo Rossi, and Yvette Monreal in Lowriders. - Deadline

  • Gabrielle Union has joined Jamie Foxx in The Silence director Baran bo Odar’s remake of Sleepless Night, and she’s in talks to star in the comedy Keanu, the first feature from Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. - THR and TheWrap

  • Roger Deakins will shoot Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner sequel. He has already worked with the director on Prisoners and the upcoming Sicario.