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Which promising movies fell shortest of expectations?
When we first heard the news that J.J. Abrams had been hired by Disney to continue the adventures of Luke Skywalker and company as the director of Star Wars: Episode VII, we were almost beside ourselves with enthusiasm. After all, as the director of Star Trek (2009), Abrams proved that he could revitalize a classic sci-fi franchise while remaining true to its core concepts and respectful of its legacy. Added to that the fact that Abrams will be shooting from a script written by Academy Award-winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) and Episode VII is bound to be the greatest Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi, right? We'll see. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but gearing down from "enthusiastic" to "hopefully optimistic."
Studios don't set out to make bad movies, yet they churn them out each and every year. Sure, most bad movies are doomed from the get-go, be they saddled with a bad script, a director who lacks vision, a cast made up of eye candy instead of actors, or some combination thereof, but even movies that seem to have everything going for them can still turn out to be dreadful. A movie about cowboys fighting aliens starring Indiana Jones and James Bond directed by the man who brought us Iron Man? Sounds awesome! Too bad Cowboys and Aliens turned out to be just another one of those movies that should have been great, but ultimately left us feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.
You've griped about them to your friends, now tell us which movies you found to be the biggest disappointments, the ones that simply failed to live up to expectations.
Rate the Top 10 Most Disappointing Movies >>
Posted 01.25.13 by BrentJS -
Steven Spielberg was at the 2011 Comic-Con to promote his upcoming The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, but zealous fans couldn't help but ask about the long-gestating sequel, Jurassic Park IV. Luckily, Spielberg actually had a brief update, ComingSoon reports.
We have a story, I can happily announce right now. We have a writer... Hopefully, we'll be making Jurassic Park 4 in the near future. In the next two or three years.
more about Jurassic Park IV >> Posted 07.23.11 by Ryan -
It's a long-gestating sequel, with Jurassic Park III hitting theaters 10 years ago. Last January, Captain America: The First Avenger and Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston revealed "there's going to be a Jurassic Park IV", and that it would spark another trilogy of Jurassic Park movies. While no confirmation of that has occurred, it does seem that Steven Spielberg is interested in returning to the prehistoric amusement park.
could it happen? >> Posted 06.17.11 by Ryan -
Director Joe Johnston has been quietly lining up his next projects while his long-delayed latest film, The Wolfman, languishes in post-production. In a recent interview with BoxOffice to promote The Wolfman, Johnston confirmed that he was in the process of developing not only a fourth installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, but a fifth and sixth, as well.
Well, there is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it's going to be unlike anything you've seen. It breaks away from the first three — it's essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy. It's going to be done in a completely different way. That's pretty much all I can tell you.
Johnston also dropped some plot details about of one of the most highly anticipated comic book movies currently in development, The First Avenger: Captain America. Johnston, attached to direct, teased that the film version of Captain America will be "something different" and not what fans might "expect," but added that it will be a "a lot of fun."
It is influenced by the comic book, but it goes off in a completely different direction. It's the origin story of Captain America. It's mostly period — there are modern, present-day bookends on it — but it's basically the story of how Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. The great thing about Captain America is he's a super hero without any super powers. Which is why this story, among the hundreds of superhero stories, appealed to me the most. He can't fly, he can't see through walls, he can't do any of that stuff. He's an everyman who's been given this amazing gift of transformation into the perfect specimen — the pinnacle of human perfection. How does that affect him? What does that mean for him emotionally and psychologically? He was this 98-pound weakling, he was this wimp, and he's transformed instantly into this Adonis. You'd think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn't get everything he wanted. The rules change at that point and his life gets even more complicated and dire. For me, that's the interesting part of the story. It's got some great action sequences in it and some incredible stuff that we've never seen before. But at the heart of it, it's a story about this kid, who all he wants to do is fit in. This thing happens and he still doesn't fit in. And he has to prove himself a hero — essentially go AWOL to save a friend. Eventually at the very end, I don't want to give away too much, but he does fit in. But it's the journey of getting him there that's interesting.
It is unclear from the interview just how far along in the development process the new Jurassic Park trilogy might be or when Jurassic Park IV might go into production. The First Avenger: Captain America is currently scheduled to begin production in June.
Posted 01.15.10 by BrentJS