55 Must See Movies of 2008
What movies will you be seeing in 2008? It’s a pretty simple question, but a very complex answer. Most consumers don’t plan their movie viewing habits that far in advance, but that doesn’t stop us from trying.
You might think that the title of this article is a bit deceptive, because who really sees 55 movies in a year anyway. But according to Video Business, the average American watches almost seven movies a month (sure, the majority of these films are viewed on DVD or television). But you are right, you must not see all these movies, these are just the films we’re excited about in 2008. Hollywood will release almost 500 films in 2008. We’ve narrowed down that list to the top 10% so you don’t have to.
This list includes the big films, the important films, the movies that you will be hearing about in the next year. The majority of the films on this list consist of Hollywood English-language films, which are, for a large part, adaptations or sequels. Some of the movies have advance buzz due to the writers, directors or stars attached. But there aren’t many big surprises. We won’t know what the next Little Miss Sunshine or Juno might be until it plays at Sundance in January.
It should be noted that this is a work of opinion, so some big Hollywood films are purposely missing (for example John Rambo, which I have no interest in, or Tina Fey’s Babby Mamma). And since even the studios don’t know what will happen if the big strike of 2008 actually happens, we can’t be sure of what the Fall line-up might actually include. There are movies being pushed into production in the next few months that might be ready for a late 2008 release. At the bottom of the list, I’ve tried to include some of the more interesting films that could possibly be released by year’s end.
Cloverfield/1-18-08
Release Date: January 18th 2008
Director: Matt Reeves (The Pallbearer, Felicity)
Writer: Drew Goddard (Lost, Alias, Angel, Buffy)
Cast: Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, and Michael Stahl-David
The Buzz: If anything else, the top secret JJ Abrams produced monster movie had one of the best teaser trailers of all time. Will the movie be even half as good? We have no idea. The film follows a group of friends in New York City during one January night (January 18th) when some kind of monster attacks. The whole film is shot from the perspective of a consumer video camera that the college-age group bring along for the adventure.
Trivia: Why is it nicknamed Cloverfield?
Release Date: January 18th 2008
Director: Kyle Newman
Writer: Adam F. Goldberg (The Jetsons, Night of the Living Dorks)
Cast: Sam Huntington, Kristen Bell, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Danny Trejo, William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, Jaime King, Christopher McDonald, Billy Dee Williams and more.
The Buzz: A road trip comedy about a group of “Star Wars” fans who travel to Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” for their dying friend. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film.
Be Kind Rewind
Release Date: January 23rd 2008
Writer/Director: Michel Gondy (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep)
Cast: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Melonie Diaz, Mia Farrow
The Buzz: Michel Gondry’s twisted comic tale of the magic of filmmaking. Jack Black plays Jerry, a junkyard worker who inadvertently causes his brain to become magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of all the movies in his friend’s (Mos Def) video rental store. In order to keep the store’s one loyal customer, an elderly lady with a tenuous grasp on reality, the pair re-create a long line of films, putting themselves and their townspeople into it. They become the biggest stars in their neighborhood. Rewind was originally scheduled for release in December 2007, but was pushed back to January. It is likely that the film was pushed back so that it can premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Gondry’s Science of Sleep and Human Nature also premiered at Sundance in 2002 and 2006 respectfully.
Jumper
Release Date: February 15th 2008
Director: Doug Liman (Go, The Bourne Identity)
Writer: David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Blade, Dark City)
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson
The Buzz: A feature film adaptation of the Steven Gould series of novels about a genetic anomaly that allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between “Jumpers” and those who have sworn to kill them. The film has been delayed, which is usually a bad sign, but the extensive mythology behind the story has held my interest.
Trivia: The Mythology Behind the Story
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Release Date: February 15th 2008
Director: Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday, Just Like Heaven)
Cast: Sarah Bolger, Freddie Highmore, Seth Rogen, Mary-Louise Parker
The Buzz: This is another film which I had very little little interest in until I saw some of the FX footage shown at Comic Con 2007. Based on the popular book series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, Spiderwick tells the story of a mother, twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, along with their sister Mallory,who find themselves pulled into an alternate world full of faeries and other creatures after moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate. Is this the next Harry Potter? Probably not. But what is now-a-days?
Synecdoche, New York
Release Date: Early 2008 (estimated)
Writer/Director: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton
The Buzz: The feature film debut from the highly acclaimed screenwriter of Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation., Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Hoffman plays Caden, a theater director who ambitiously attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse. Caden finds out there is something wrong with him after a trip to the dentist. The movie goes into themes such as the nature of family, of home, and of male-female relationships. Anything from the mind of Kaufman is worth at least a trip to the multiplex. At least.
Trivia: A “synecdoche,” aside from being a clever play on “Schenectady”, where some of the film takes place, is a figure of speech in which a part is used to describe the whole or the whole is used to describe a part. Confused? Me too. One person used the example of what “threads” do for clothes.
The Other Boleyn Girl
Release Date: February 29th 2008
Cast: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristen Scott Thomas
The Buzz: Based on the Philippa Gregory novel which follows the story of two beautiful sisters, Anne ( Portman) and Mary (Johansson) Boleyn, who driven by their family’s blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King Henry VIII (Bana). Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Kristin Scott Thomas in one movie? I don’t care if it’s one of those stuffy period dramas, count me in. Oh yeah, Eric Bana and Across the Universe star Jim Sturgess are also featured.
Trivia: Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are Hot
10,000 BC
Release Date: March 7th 2008
Writer/Director: Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Independence Day)
Cast: Camilla Belle, Steven Strait, Cliff Strait, Cliff Curtis
The Buzz: A prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter’s journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe. Let’s hope this is more Independence Day than Godzilla.
Horton Hears a Who!
Release Date: March 14th 2008
Directors: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Voice Cast: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Isla Fisher, Will Arnett, Selena Gomez, Amy Poehler, Dan Fogler
The Buzz: Could this be the first great Dr. Suess inspired film since Chuck Jones’ The Grinch who Stole Christmas? Jim Carrey voices Horton the Elephant, who one day hears a cry from help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.” The computer generated animation looks top notch (almost Pixar quality even). Director Jimmy Hayward started as an animator at Pixar, working on Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc, and Finding Nemo.
21
Release Date: March 21st 2008
Director: Robert Luketic (Monster-in-Law, Legally Blonde)
Writer: Peter Steinfeld (Analyze That, Be Cool)
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo
The Buzz: Based on the book Bringing Down the House, 21 is the fact-based story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. I read the book a few years back, and this is a fascinating story which should play well on the big screen.
Trivia: Much of this movie was actually shot across the river from MIT at Boston University because MIT would not allow them to film on campus.
Wanted
Release Date: March 28th 2008
Director: Timur Bekmambetov (Nightwatch, Daywatch)
Writer: Michael Brandt (3:10 to Yuma, Catch That Kid)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Common
The Buzz: Based on the Mark Millar graphic novel about a young man (McAvoy) finds out his long lost father is an assassin. And when his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father’s old organization and trained by a man named Sloan (Freeman) to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
Trivia: Many of the major characters within Wanted appear to be clear analogues of DC super-villains and super-heroes. The two major characters are: The Killer, based on either Deathstroke, Deadshot, or Bullseye and The Fox, based on Catwoman
The Ruins
Release Date: April 4th 2008
Director: Carter Smith
Cast: Jena Malone, Joe Anderson, Shawn Ashmore, Laura Ramsey, Jonathan Tucker
The Buzz: Scott B. Smith was the author of A Simple Plan, which was adapted into a great film by a pre-Spider-man Sam Raimi. Smith also wrote The Ruins, which photographer and commercial director Carter Smith is directing. The horror/thriller follows a group of friends whose leisurely Mexican holiday takes a turn for the worse when they, along with a fellow tourist embark on a remote archaeological dig in the jungle, where something evil lives among the ruins.
Trivia: Ben Stiller produced this movie.
Harold & Kumar 2
Release Date: April 4th
Directors: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle)
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Roger Bart, Richard Christy, Rob Corddry, Neil Patrick Harris, Eddie Kaye Thomas
The Buzz: This stoner sequel follows the cross-country adventures of the pot-smoking duo as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam.
Trivia: While in production, it’s first actual title was ‘Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam’, which was probably changed because they never actually go to Amsterdam.
Repo! The Genetic Opera!
Release Date: April 25th 2008
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III, IV)
Cast: Paris Hilton, Alexa Vega, Anthony Head, Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino
The Buzz: Music video turned filmmaker Darren Lynn Bousman’s horror musical. A worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan. The repossession clause is a killer, however. Sure, Paris Hilton is in the film, but hopefully she won’t ruin everything.
Trivia: A 10-minute trailer was made by Darren Lynn Bousman to pitch the idea to movie companies, which starred Shawnee Smith. You can see some photo stills from that footage at this link.
Iron Man
Release Date: May 2nd 2008
Director: Jon Favreau (Elf, Made)
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub
The Buzz: Jon Favreau’s big screen adaptation of the popular Marvel comic book character. Robert Downey Jr. plays Weapons designer Tony Stark, who is injured by shrapnel in his heart while in Afghanistan to introduce his new missile design. His captors order him to assemble a missile for them, giving him access to a workshop. He puts his creativity to use by assembling a bulletproof set of power armor, complete with pacemaker and flamethrowers, and uses it to free himself. Back at home, he becomes Iron Man, developing a flying suit with the red and gold scheme and advanced weapon capabilities.
Speed Racer
Release Date: May 9th 2008
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Scott Porter
The Buzz: Based on the classic 1960’s Japanese animated series, The Wachowski Brothers (Matrix) direct the story of a young race car driver as he attempts to obtain glory, with the help of his family and the Mach 5, the advanced car created by his father. Emile Hirsch stars as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie, and Mathew Fox as Racer X. Even if you weren’t a fan of the tv series, all indications so far point to this being unlike anything ever seen before on the big screen.
Trivia: Director Alfonso Cuarón was once attached to direct with Johnny Depp starring.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Release Date: May 16th 2008
Director: Andrew Adamson (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Cast: Liam Neeson (voice), Ben Barnes, Warwick Davis, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Peter Dinklage
The Buzz: Okay, so the first film lacked action, but Disney has promised to up the ante with Prince Caspian. And if the footage shown at Comic Con was any indication, this could be the film to jump-start the Summer.
Trivia: Warwick Davis (Nikabrik) played the characters Reepicheep and Glimfeather in the BBC productions of Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Release Date: May 22nd 2008
Director: Steven Spielberg (Raiders, Jaws, Every great movie from your childhood)
The Buzz: Steven Spielberg directs the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series. Harrison Ford is back, and so is Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. New to the production is Cate Blanchett as the bad girl, John Hurt as ??? and Shia LaBeouf as Indy’s greaser sidekick. Not much can be said about the storyline, as it is being kept tightly under wraps. George Lucas has said that Crystal Skull is more in tone with Raiders than any other film in the series. This makes us excited. If it’s on par with The Last Crusade, than I’ll be happy.
Trivia: Sean Connery was asked to reprise his role as Henry Jones, Sr. but turned it down because he did not want to come out of retirement.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Release Date: May 30th 2008
Director: Nicholas Stoller (Undeclared writer)
Cast: Apatow regulars Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader and Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Jason Segel, Kristen Wiig
The Buzz: Another Judd Apatow comedy which is sure to please. Jason Segel plays Peter Bretter, who takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Little does he know Sarah’s traveling to the same resort as her ex … and she’s bringing along her new boyfriend.
Trivia: Supposedly the screenplay was inspired by Jason Segel’s experience at the end of a long relationship with Linda Cardellini, his co-star in Freaks and Geeks.
Righteous Kill
Release Date: Summer 2008
Director: Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes)
Writer: Russell Gewirtz (Inside Man)
Cast: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, 50 Cent, Brian Dennehy
The Buzz: Two Veteran New York City Detectives hunt a vigilante who may be one of their own. After 8 collaborations, Martin Scorsese hasn’t worked with De Niro since Casino back in 1995. Who would have thought that their next live-action big screen collaboration would be in front of the camera. And Pacino and De Niro are appearing on screen together for the second time in history. The legendary talent being brought together for this film screams for attention. Could this be the next Heat or Departed?
Trivia: $60 million is a pretty big budget for an independent production.
Choke
Release Date: Summer 2008 (estimated)
Writer/Director: Clark Gregg
Cast: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald
The Buzz: Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite authors. You might know him as the author of Fight Club, which was brilliantly made for the screen by David Fincher. Choke is probably my third favorite book from Palahniuk. My favorite, Survivor likely won’t ever be made because the plot involves a terrorist and an airplane. In Choke, Victor Mancini (Rockwell) is a sex addict who works as a reenactor of the Revolutionary War. To support his hospitalized mother (Huston), Victor cons others by pretending to choke at restaurants to get money from his rescuers. Actor Clark Gregg pursued Choke for his directorial debut, after the project was dropped by Universal.
Trivia: Choke was shot in 25 days with a budget of $3.4 million
The Lovely Bones
Release Date: Summer 2008
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci
The Buzz: Peter Jackson’s big screen adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel. Bones tells the story of a 14-year-old girl from suburban Pennsylvania who is murdered by her neighbor. She tells the story from Heaven, showing the lives of the people around her and how they have changed all while attempting to get someone to find her lost body. Gosling will play the girl’s father and Weisz will play the girl’s mother. The film has a great cast, highly acclaimed source material, and a great director.
Trivia: Film4 was originally scheduled to make this film at a budget of $15 million. Peter Jackson sought a beginning $65 million budget for the adaptation.
The Happening
Release Date: June 13th 2008
Writer/Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo
The Buzz: Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan, but many of his detractors have admitted that The Happening is his best script since The Sixth Sense. A paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. The Happening will be released purposely on Friday the 13th.
Trivia: Night’s spec script was originally titled The Green Effect.
The Incredible Hulk
Release Date: June 13th 2008
Director: Louis Leterrier (Transporter, Unleashed)
Writer: Edward Norton
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson
The Buzz: Edward Norton stars as Bruce Banner, in a non-sequel sequel to Ang Lee’s The Hulk. The Incredible Hulk is on the run, and the action is more intense in Edward Norton’s screenplay (that’s right, Norton also wrote the screenplay).
Trivia: Norton will provide motion capture for the character.
55 Must See Movies of 2008
Re: 55 Must See Movies of 2008
anyway tnx sweetie_rika
