A Quiet Place: Day One
The full tease for the horror prequel went live earlier last week so the big game spot for A Quiet Place: Day One isn’t quite the reveal it shoulda and coulda been but it will still be enough to pique the interest of those watching live. For many it’ll be the first time they’ll even be aware that the franchise is coming back, a smart business decision given how much money the first two made globally (more than $600m combined). Oscar nominee Emily Blunt is passing the torch back to Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o for a look at how it all started. Interestingly, it comes from Michael Samoski, who broke out with Pig, the subdued Nicolas Cage drama from 2021.
Despicable Me 4
Rather than just a shorter version of the full-length trailer for the fourth Despicable Me outing that launched two weeks ago, Universal has specially crafted a canny little prod at AI instead, imagining that it is in fact the Minions in charge of the many awful examples of it we have seen of late. It’s also wise to focus on them over the lead, Gru, given their viral appeal and with the commercial success of the movies thus far being what it is, expect this to be a major much-needed hit later this year.
Twisters
Chalk it up to a combination of climate change fears, 90s nostalgia and never-ending sequelitis but somehow we have a new Twister film this summer, called, of course, Twisters. It comes from an unusual place – the director of quiet family drama Minari, Lee Isaac Chung – which could bode well, alongside a stacked young cast including Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. The teaser shows us what looks at times to be an almost-too-close reimagining of the first, a treat for those of us who remember it all too well.
Shogun
It was actually FX chief Josh Landgraf who spoke this last week about the peak TV era being over (which might not be a bad thing given how many, many, many shows don’t need to exist) but this latest look at the network’s latest suggests that there are new places still left to go. Based on the James Clavell novel that was previously a miniseries back in the 80s, Shogun promises to bring an expansive big screen sheen to the world of small-screen historical drama.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
A fast-cut tease of the new franchise reboot then leads those online to a new full-length look, offering an expansive idea of what’s at stake. The recentish Apes movies were far better than one would have expected, especially given how even Tim Burton couldn’t rise to the challenge, so there’s reason to be excited for more (even if, regrettably, Andy Serkis isn’t involved).
Deadpool and Wolverine
Arguably the most anticipated movie trailer last night was unveiled before the actual game even started, the first look at the third Deadpool movie, now known as Deadpool and Wolverine. It’s what one would expect – a pegging joke, some gun stuff, some winks at the camera and Wolverine – and after a no good awful very bad year for superhero box office, Marvel will be relieved come summer when this one makes a truckload.
Wicked
Our first look at Wicked here, to the excitement of Broadway fans worldwide, although once again, it looks like a marketing campaign for a musical that is decidedly not selling it as a musical. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande star, with Jeff Goldblum in support, and while it’s hard not to have some chilling Oz, the Great and Powerful flashbacks at some of the slightly junky visuals, there’s just about enough magic here to suggest good things to come this Christmas.
If
More Ryan Reynolds here, this time with his buddy John Krasinski for the actor turned A Quiet Place director’s big new kids movie. If stands for Imaginary Friend and this latest tease starts with a Randall Park joke that resurrects an old Office joke apparently, preferable to repeating the teaser trailer’s claim that it comes “from the imagination of John Krasinski”.
The Fall Guy
The first trailer for 80s TV show turned summer tentpole The Fall Guy uneasily oscillated between pros and cons, main pro being the considerable combined charm of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt and main con being the director of the considerably annoying one-two punch of Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train. This latest tease is erring on the con, playing up the Deadpool-adjacent humour and adding “motherfucking” to both of the star’s names. It premieres at SXSW two months before release so there’s some major confidence in the final product, let’s hope it’s earned.
Monkey Man
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the April release of Monkey Man, a film that seems at first look to be yet another variation on the John Wick formula. It’s a leading man vehicle for the more than capable Dev Patel, also taking on roles of writer and director, for a culturally specific revenge thriller that got saved from a streaming release on Netflix by Jordan Peele who is now releasing it via his label. The latest tease hints at one of the year’s most satisfying action films.
