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January 4, 2013
 

2013: THE MOVIE YEAR TO COME (October-December)

 

Today we conclude our early look at 2013’s coming attractions.  (The line-up for January-March is here; April-June is here, and July-September is here.)  Once we start heading this far down the calender, however, postponements and reschedulings will be increasingly common, and there are any number of major titles that haven’t yet even been assigned a date, among them what could be the year’s 500-pound gorilla of Oscar candidates, the adaptation of Pulitzer- and Tony-Award winner AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY from those awards-savvy folks at The Weinstein Company, which features a cast that includes such minor names as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper and Sam Shepard.  That’s not to mention the movies we don’t even know about yet, to be discovered at Sundance, Cannes and other film festivals, among other sources.

That being said, October is slated to begin with the Vince Vaughn/Chris Pratt comedy THE DELIVERY MAN (Disney) on October 4, where it will face the thriller PARANOIA (Relativity) with Liam Hemsworth and Harrison Ford, the sequel SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR (Weinstein) and the 3D reissue of REVENGE OF THE SITH (20th/Lucasfilm).  October 11 has two potentially major openings:  Paul Greenglass’s piracy drama CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (Sony) with Tom Hanks, and Spike Lee’s remake of the (ultraviolent) classic OLDBOY (FilmDistrict), with Josh Brolin, Samuel L. Jackson and Elizabeth Olsen.  Also opening that day is the thriller HAUNT (20th).  On October 18, the recently-rescheduled remake of CARRIE (Screen Gems/Sony) finally makes its appearance, against Luc Besson’s MALAVITA (Relativity), with a surprisingly starry cast that includes Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones, both contending with YA fantasy THE SEVENTH SON (Warners).  (A footnote to the day is that at least for now, Julianne Moore will be competing with herself, as a star of both Carrie and Seventh Son.)  The month ends with the return of recent-perennial franchise PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 5 (Paramount) on October 25, which properly enough has THE WORLD’S END (Focus/Universal), from cult-movie gods Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, as its competition.

November wastes no time, leaping into franchise-hopeful season November 1 with ENDER’S GAME (Summit/Lionsgate), based on the bestselling novel, along with the animated MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN (20th).  November 8, at the moment, belongs solely to THOR: THE DARK WORLD (Disney).  November 15 is currently scheduled to have only a sequel to THE BEST MAN (Universal).  On November 22, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (Lionsgate) takes over the old pre-Thanksgiving Twilight slot, and the animated FROZEN (Disney) is scheduled for Wednesday, November 27.

Nothing is currently scheduled for December 6, a notoriously low-moviegoing weekend.  December 13 brings two very diverse franchises:  THE HOBBIT:THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (Warners/MGM) and Tyler Perry’s A MADEA CHRISTMAS (Lionsgate).  Wednesday December 18 belongs to George Clooney’s exceedingly classy caper movie MONUMENTS MEN (Sony), with a fantastic cast that includes Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman and Jean Dujardin, along with Clooney himself.  December 20 is a crowded holiday bonanza, including ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount), SAVING MR BANKS (Disney) with Tom Hanks, the animated WALKING WITH DINOSAURS (20th), and LAST VEGAS (CBS), with Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline.  The movie year ends on Christmas Day with some huge budgets:  the rebooted franchise JACK RYAN (Paramount) starring Chris Pine in what were Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford’s footsteps, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (20th) with Ben Stiller and Kristin Wiig, and–maybe?–the very, very postponed 27 RONIN (Universal) with Keanu Reeves.



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."