The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, we return to the world of Katniss Everdeen—a bleak dystopia called Panem in which the Capitol holds an annual competition called the “Hunger Games” to keep the twelve subservient Districts in check. Every year, each District must send two children as Tributes to fight to the death in the Hunger Games, and the last Tribute standing wins.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Petar (Josh Hutcherson) have just returned home to District Twelve after winning the 74th Hunger Games in an unprecedented double victory. No sooner do they arrive than they are whisked back away from their families and friends, to participate in a “Victor’s Tour” of the other Districts. During this tour Katniss finds that the fabricated nightmare of the Games has been replaced by the real-life nightmare facing the oppressed Districts she visits. But under the Districts’ facade of loyalty a rebellion is brewing. As Katniss begins to understand the enormity of her role in the events, President Snow plans the historic 75th Hunger Games—and the fate of Panem hangs in the balance.

Directed by Francis Lawrence and written for the screen by Simon Beaufoy, Michael deBruyn, and Scott Frank, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be released into 2D theaters and IMAX on November 22, 2013. This Lionsgate action/drama/sci-fi also stars Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer, Lynn Cohen, Patrick St. Esprit, Meta Golding, Bruno Gunn, Alan Ritchson, E. Roger Mitchell, Maria Howell, Stephanie Leigh Schlund, Sam Claflin, and Jeffrey Wright.

Pacific Rim

“We always thought that alien life would come from the stars. We never considered it might come from deep beneath the sea.” In Pacific Rim it is the near future, and monstrous creatures called Kaiju have been swarming out of the Pacific Ocean, sparking a years-long war that has cost humanity millions of lives and billions of dollars. Mankind’s greatest weapons against the Kaiju are the Jaegers, giant robots controlled by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge. But even these fearsome constructions are proving powerless against the relentless assault of the Kaiju. Exhausted and on the brink of destruction, humanity’s leaders have no choice but to turn to an unlikely duo for help—a washed-up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) piloting a legendary but obsolete Jaeger from the early days. Will their power be enough to save mankind from total annihilation?

Conceived as director Guillermo del Toro’s “beautiful poem to giant monsters,” Pacific Rim promises a compelling storyline and fantastic visual effects. “The Kaiju counted on the humans to hide, to give up, to fail,” rallies the leader of the human forces. “But today, we are canceling the apocalypse.”

Written by Travis Beachman and Guillermo del Toro and directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pacific Rim will be released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX on July 12, 2013. This Warner Bros. Pictures sci-fi action film also stars Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman, Robert Kazinsky, Max Martini, Clifton Collins, Jr., Burn Gorman, Larry Joe Campbell, Brad William Henke, and Diego Klattenhoff.

Fast and Furious 6

 

In Fast and Furious 6, street racers Dominic (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) return to the screen in a blaze of glory. The two find themselves on the wrong side of the law yet again as they stage a massive heist on the streets of Europe—and the stakes are higher than ever! With a rival gang trying to steal their prize and a relentless federal agent (Dwayne Johnson) following their every move, Dominic and Brian must work faster and fight harder if they hope to succeed.

 

 

Following in the footsteps of the previous installment of this series, Fast and Furious 6 continues the transformation of the franchise from “pure car culture movies” into “true action movies in the spirit of those great heist films made 10 or 15 years ago,” says Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson. Written by franchise veteran Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin, Fast and Furious 6 will be released in theaters and IMAX on May 24, 2013. This Universal Pictures action/crime/thriller also stars Gina Carano, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Joe Taslim, Sung Kang, and Gal Gadot. Stay tuned during the Super Bowl for a sneak peak at the first trailer!

Oblivion

 

The setting: a post-apocalyptic Earth. The time: The future, when Earth has evolved beyond recognition. In fact, most people live in the clouds because Earth is no longer habitable. They face a terrifying threat from the Scavs, with whom they’ve had decades of war.

 

In “Oblivion,” Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a drone repairman and former soldier. As one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth, he’s part of a massive operation to extract vital resources from the planet. He lives and patrols the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above the planet. But when Jack rescues a beautiful stranger (Andrea Riseborough) from a downed spacecraft, his life gets turned upside down. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces Jack to question everything he knows. Ultimately he ends up on a journey of redemption and discovery, and battles to save the fate of mankind.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by William Monahan, Karl Gajdusek and Michael Arndt, “Oblivion” is an epic science fiction thriller. Filmed in stunning digital 4K resolution on location across the U.S. and Iceland, the film is scheduled for a limited IMAX release one week before its general release on April 19, 2013 by Universal Pictures. “Oblivion” also stars Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Melissa Leo and Zoe Bell.