Paramount Pictures has finally weighed in with preview images of their 2005 slate, and without wasting any time lets take a look at what they have to offer.
Opening this weekend is the true-life story, Coach Carter, an inspirational account of a controversial high school basketball coach played by Samuel L. Jackson, who received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news in 1999 for benching his entire undefeated basketball team for poor academic performance.
To check out the pics, trailers and more click here.
I am not too sure we needed this film or not, but The Honeymooners is coming to the big screen either way. The feature-length comedy, is the story of two best friends – bus driver Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) and sewer worker Ed Norton (Mike Epps) – who hatch a get-rich-quick scheme to get them out of Brooklyn and onto easy street. Standing by their husbands are devoted wives Alice (Gabrielle Union) and Trixie (Regina Hall), who help their guys make ends meet by waitressing at a neighborhood diner.
Whether it is good or not, it is nice to know we will get long looks at the beautiful Gabrielle Union, unfortunately, she doesn’t grace either of the two early pics we have, click here to check those out.
Next up is Sahara, the film adaptation of the Clive Cussler novel of the same name.
The film stars Matthew McConaughey and Penélope Cruz in the starring roles as McConaughey takes on Cussler’s iconic character Dirk Pitt an adventurer working for NUMA (National Underwater and Marine Agency), a government agency working to protect all things water-related.
I tried reading a Cussler novel once and couldn’t get through the first chapter, but maybe it will translate better on the big screen, to check out our gallery of stills as well as the trailer for the film click here.
Nicolas Cage seems to have once again found his groove thanks to National Treasure, and Paramount is thankful as they are readying the release of The Weather Man.
Cage stars in the dramatic comedy along with Michael Caine as the popular Chicago weatherman, Dave Spritz. Dave has a shot at the big time when a national morning television show calls him for an audition, unfortunately his personal life is in complete disarray. Dave’s painful divorce, his dad’s illness and trouble with his kids have him poised on the knife’s edge between stability and disaster.
To check out a couple of early pics as well as a large look at the one sheet click here.
Everything Adam Sandler seems to get involved with seems to turn to gold, no matter how bad it looks on the outside, so why should his remake of the popular Burt Reynolds film The Longest Yard, be any different? Hell, Reynolds is in this one as well along with a whole slew of rap miscreants as well as football stars and WWE wrestlers.
The Longest Yard is the story of pro quarterback Paul Crewe (Sandler) and former college champion and coach Nate Scarboro (Reynolds), who are doing time in the same prison. Asked to put together a team of inmates to take on the guards, Crewe enlists the help of Scarboro to coach the inmates to victory in a football game “fixed” to turn out quite another way.
To get a look at a large gallery as well as the trailer click here.
Remake is the name of the game over at Paramount as the second of their three remakes hits in June with the widely anticipated Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg effort, War of the Worlds.
There isn’t going to be anything too new as far as the story goes, the aliens are still coming to get us, but there certainly promises to be enough effects and explosions to satisfy your summer blockbuster fancy.
To check out the teaser trailer, two teaser posters and three images click here.
The film that is sure to get ladies all excited as well as the men is Elizabethtown as the girls will be excited at the opportunity to get a long look at Orlando Bloom and the guys will be treated to Kirsten Dunst and Jessica Biel in this summer’s romantic dramedy.
Elizabethtown is a story of an unexpected romance that develops against the backdrop of a Kentucky patriarch’s hilariously elaborate memorial.
To get a look at an early image as well as a Pre-Production Reel click here.
(TBA 2005)
Hey look, it’s another remake as Billy Bob Thornton steps into the little league coaching shoes for The Bad News Bears.
Described as a fresh take on the irreverent 1976 comedy hit, The Bad News Bears follows a grizzled former minor league baseball player who is recruited to coach a woefully inept Little League team to a championship against their hated rivals, the Yankees.
To get a look at two early pics click here.
(TBA 2005)
Not too much known about this own, besides the fact Sam Jackson doesn’t want anything to do with it as 50 Cent acquires his first bout in acting as an orphaned street kid making his mark in the drug trade, but finally dares leave the violence behind to pursue a promising career in rap.
Rapper turned actor, turned drug lord, turned rapper…. The Circle of Life.
For some reason Jim Sheridan has signed on to direct this film, but who am I to doubt anyone’s abilities until I have a chance to see what they can do?
With SpongeBob not being as big as a moneymaker as Paramount hoped it would be, there are hopes that their 2005 animated effort won’t fare as poorly as The Barnyard boasts a large list of talent voicing the characters of the barnyard when the farmer’s back is turned.
The Barnyard stars the voice talents of Kevin James, Courteney Cox-Arquette, Danny Glover, Sam Elliott, Wanda Sykes and Andie MacDowell.
Unfortunately we don’t have any pics, but you can get the rest of the story by clicking here.
Maybe it is just me, but the early pics from this one have done nothing to excite me for the film as Charlize Theron goes from the “monster” she became in 2003 to the sleek action star of Aeon Flux based on the MTV animated series created by Peter Chung.
The film is set 400 years in the future, when disease has wiped out the majority of the earth’s population except for one walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. Theron stars as the title character, a top operative in the underground ‘Monican’ rebellion – led by The Handler (Frances McDormand). When Aeon is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets.
To check out our hi-res looks of Theron running around and crouching in her all black jumper click here.
Latifah and Cool J., once again Paramount turns to the rap community to tell its story of a shy cookware clerk (Queen Latifah), believing her days are numbered, throws caution to the wind and embarks on a dream vacation to Europe. While staying at a grand hotel, she and her uninhibited attitude have a profound and humorous effect on the guests and staff.
We have one pic of Latifah in the flick, so click here to check it out.
(TBA 2005)
Last but not least, is the Untitled Mark Wahlberg Project formerly titled Four Brothers starring Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Garrett Hedlund and Andre 3000 as four brothers who band together to avenge the death of their mother.
That is all that is known at this time about this one, but we do have an early look at the brothers if you click here.
If you haven’t checked out our other previews be sure to do so as we have already previewed the upcoming slates for Lions Gate Films, New Line, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Dreamworks.
