ROTTEN TOMATOES: Avatar, Green Hornet, Prince of Persia and More Set for 2009

Avatar, Green Hornet, Prince of Persia and More Set for 2009

The blockbusters of tomorrow falling into place today.

by Alex Vo | July 16, 2007

No script, director, or actors? No problem! Not when you have major studio backing, an army of computer geeks working on CG effects, and a well-publicized release date to stick to.

Variety recently published an interesting article discussing how the well-oiled machine that is Hollywood has to increasingly look further ahead in its calendar in order to stay healthy. While most dedicated moviegoers rarely look beyond the next summer season, studios are already roadmapping their 2009s and 2010s.

"As films rely increasingly on CGI, you have to think further and further out, and it's harder to distinguish from picture to picture, so that puts more pressure on you to get the right date," said Hutch Parker, Fox Entertainment president. "If you don't, it can really bite you."

Thinking this far ahead has become a common practice among studios as more and more goes into not only making the movie, but promoting it, too, with marketing and franchising.

"You have to get there early, particularly for big dates around Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, and it takes a tremendous amount of work," said Anthony Marcoly, vice president of sales and marketing for Buena Vista International. "Our message is that 'this is not just a teen movie' or a 'family film' but something that is for everyone from 8 to 80 in every country. These are truly global properties."

2009 looks to house some new potential franchises like Prince of Persia, The Green Hornet, and Avatar. Here's a look at some of the major releases:

July 10, 2009
Prince of Persia. Based on the long-running videogame series, with Michael Bay as possible director.

May 1, 2009
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The third of what is now to be presumed seven films.

May 22, 2009
Avatar. A space epic from James Cameron.
Monsters vs Aliens. A 3D monster mash from DreamWorks. The most no-nonsense title since Snakes on a Plane?

June 12, 2009
Up. Pixar's post-Wall-E flick. Early plot descriptions describe it as a coming-of-age story starring a 70-year-old detective who fights wild beasts.

July 1, 2009
Ice Age 3. Earth freezes over again. Hilarity ensues. Again.

Summer 2009
The Green Hornet. Based on the American radio crimefighter. Columbia will distribute.

November 6, 2009
The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Based on Roald Dahl's children's classic, Mr. Fox features stop-motion designed by Henry Selick, and is directed by Wes Anderson with George Clooney voicing the title role.

2009
Nottingham. Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe team up again for this action/drama based around Robin Hood lore.

And for 2010, what looks to be summer 2007-redux: (a possible) Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Spider-Man 4, Shrek 4, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The 23^rd James Bond is also slated for 2010.

Source: Variety

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(1-17 of 17 posts) | Reply

Mr. Kong writes:
on Jul 16 2007 03:59 PM

NO MORE ICE AGE!

(Reply to this)

DirectorG13 writes:
on Jul 16 2007 05:37 PM

The two that I'm truly looking forward to are Avatar and Prince of Persia. I can't wait to see James Cameron come back with a new movie.

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jul 16 2007 05:48 PM

I'm skeptical about Ice Age, too. The first one was surprisingly good, the second one was decent and wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be, but can they still make an acceptable movie the third time around? If Shrek the Third is any indication, quality franchises deteriorate over time. So I'd rather they not risk it, but it appears as though they've already started anyhow. Oh well.

Also, alert the Internet: Hollywood wants to make good, widely-accessible movies in years to come. This is either the death or the true beginning of the inundation of unfunny PG-13 dramedies starring Steve Martin, Lindsay Lohan, and/or Robin Williams, depending on how Hollywood defines 'good, widely-accessible movies'. And I hope for the former.

Personally, I've had enough Robin Hood stories for one lifetime.

Chronicles of Narnia will become the new successful-children's-books-turned-movies after Harry Potter is done, I'm betting.

Also, I think it's hilarious how similar Summer 2010 is to Summer 2007. All we need is one of those reported Transformers sequels and it will be perfect (isn't Toy Story 3 coming out around then, too? It's not Ratatouille, but it's a representative of Pixar all the time).

(Reply to this)

Brad 3000 writes:
on Jul 16 2007 06:04 PM

Wow 2010 is really going to suck.

(Reply to this)

Product_of_You writes:
on Jul 16 2007 07:52 PM

I really don't give a crap about 2009 or especially 2010, they are too far off, and who knows, I may be dead by then.

I wish Hollywood would stop focusing on making franchises out of these possibly big movies, and just focus only making a good SINGLE film. Sheesh, I am so sick of hearing about Trilogies that I want to rip my hair out.

(Reply to this)

killermonkey8822 writes:
on Jul 16 2007 08:37 PM

It is a bit too far away to be making random estimations like this but whatever:

Prince Of Persia: Could be good, it will probably be decent, but the critics are going to bash it of course since it's Michael Bay.

Chronicles Of Narnia 3: I Didn't even know that they were making a number 2, and seven movies, when will they learn that nobody needs this crap.

Avatar: Well i hated Titanic but i loved all of James Cameron's other films (terminator 1 & 2,aliens,the abbys etc.) and space epic, sounds sweet, i will defintly see this.

Monsters vs. aliens: the title sounds like a rip off of alien vs. predator, but it probably won't be, i will see this, but do i want to see this, well that depends.

Up- f**k you Pixar!

Ice Age 3: Another One!.... aw crap..... i thought they were done.

Green Hornet: Hmm...... sounds like it could be good.... even though i was never a big fan of the green hornet..... i shall go see this.

fantastic mr. fox: stop motion? sweet, my favorite kind of animation, this is a must see for me. George Clooney: oh.... nevermind.

Nottingham: cool, sounds interesting, a good actor and a decent director, i am actually kind of looking forward to their newest film American Gangstar, or at least i am interested to see what it is.

Pirates of the Carribean 4: Are you serious? am i the only one who hates this series?.... okay so the first film wasan't bad.... had a nice blend of action and comedy.... but it's only a movie that you want to see once.... i never saw it twice..... and there was no need for the sequels... they should just quit now while they have the chance.

Spider-man 4: It is very hard to be excited for this movie after the disapointing third film, but i hope that it will be an improvement (with lots more venom and maybe some carnage thrown in)

Shrek 4: When will they learn.

Harry Potter 6: pfft.... how does anybody like these movies.

james bond 23: i am very excited for this one after the excellent casino royale results....... even if this new one is by a director who has no action experience.

Well there's what i think of these new upcoming movies..... some will probably be good..... and some will probably bomb.

(Reply to this)

lavatory love machine writes:
on Jul 16 2007 10:51 PM

I thought that michael bay was confirmed to direct prince of persia, now that this article says it possible I might get interested in the movie, alfonso cuaron should direct

to the poster above: you have really no idea what you're talking about, worldwide harry potter is much more popular that pirates and spiderman, and the movies are getting better and better, maybe you should try reading the books, you also seem to have a problem with pixar, so I guees it's no point trying to explain anything to you

you wrote:

"Chronicles Of Narnia 3: I Didn't even know that they were making a number 2, and seven movies, when will they learn that nobody needs this crap."

I heted the first narnia movie (even though I liked the book) but it made like 300 million dollars and that's without counting dvd sales, so I guess some people need that crap, even if you have a different opinion

(Reply to this)

Count_Vertigo writes:
on Jul 17 2007 01:35 AM

In reply to this comment (#936256)
"Up- f**k you Pixar!" - Wow! Someone seems just a little bitter here. I actually look forward to the Pixar releases compared to most of the other computer animated crap that's released.

I'm with you on your opinions on most of the other films, especially Spider-Man 4. I was so disappointed with "Emo" Parker and Venom. I'm actually hoping they stay away from Venom and Carnage for the next one, cause I don't want to be disappointed more. And did anyone else feel like they were watching a Lifetime movie at all? Seriously! Why did every character have to cry at some point?!?!

"Harry Potter 6: pfft.... how does anybody like these movies?" (Raises hand) I actually do enjoy them. Call it a guilty pleasure, but I've seen a lot worse book-to-film adaptations, and they actually get it right more often than not.

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jacog writes:
on Jul 17 2007 04:14 AM

Oh dear... I fear for Prince of Persia. The script is being written by Jordan Mechner, so I am quite confident at least that will be decent... but Michael Bay? Totally the wrong type of movie for his "direction style".

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Jul 17 2007 07:47 AM

It might be hard for you hardened Internet men who eat babies for breakfast to understand, but in real life, your common man sheds a tear when he feels sadness. Peter Parker is hardly a tough guy; when did the series ever give you the impression he was? I see no problem in an emotionally delicate guy like him crying.

I agree that it's time for Pirates to end, though. Actually, it was time for Pirates to end after the first film, but it's never too late to end it. Even now after the studios have wasted millions of dollars marketing the trashy sequels.

(Reply to this)

Vitamin M writes:
on Jul 17 2007 08:15 AM

not to spoil anything but venom probably wont be in another SM film...he kind of blew up.

(Reply to this)

renodc writes:
on Jul 17 2007 12:22 PM

I believe Green Hornet has been in pre-production since before Al Gore invented the internet.

(Reply to this)

Dominem007 writes:
on Jul 17 2007 11:21 PM

who cares about 2009 or 2010 (unless the Hobbit and Toy Story 3 finally come out!) 2008 is going to be the greatest year ever for movies: Indiana Jones 4, The Dark Knight, Narnia 2, Bond 22, and the list goes on.

(Reply to this)

Gladius writes:
on Jul 18 2007 04:12 AM

A coming-of-age story about a seventy-year-old? Okayyyy. Since it's Pixar, I'll give it a benefit of a doubt.

(Reply to this)

Artanis3 writes:
on Jul 18 2007 05:49 AM

Nottingham is going to be great.

The last time Russel Crowe and Ridley Scott teamed up, you got Gladiator (one of the greatest movies set in ancient time).

Now I guess they're going to try out Medieval times. That's fine by me.

(Reply to this)

Count_Vertigo writes:
on Jul 18 2007 04:31 PM

In reply to this comment (#941972)
Actually, the last time Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott teamed up we got A Good Year. Don't remember it? Not many people do, because it sucked that much! Hopefully Nottingham will be a much better film. Both of their careers depend on it.

(Reply to this)

Count_Vertigo writes:
on Jul 18 2007 04:38 PM

In reply to this comment (#938149)
I'm not saying that its a bad thing that Peter Parker cried. Heck, he did that in the first movie. But almost everyone including Harry Osborn and Sandman cried in Spider-Man 3. Showing emotion is one thing. Shoving emotion down our throats to try to force us to feel sympathy for a character is entirely something else. I was waiting for Valerie Bertinelli to make an appearance. (Returns to eating babies for breakfast...)

(Reply to this)