Is the state of movies in 2014 reflected in the release date of Michael Mann‘s new cyber thriller "Blackhat," which is scheduled to arrive in the not-very-promising January season? Is there no longer room for an auteur like Mann in a stronger quarter? Or maybe it’s not an awards worthy picture and has been relegated to January for quality reasons? And when you factor in there’s only one real name in the picture, Chris Hemsworth, one who hasn’t truly proven himself at the box-office outside his ‘Avengers‘ franchise, perhaps January is a safer month to release "Blackhat." And though there’s talk of an Oscar qualifying run, we’ll believe it when we see it (this year seems too competitive, and Universal has too little gain and much too lose if early word is negative).
Regardless, we’re psyched, because a Michael Mann film is always an event in our minds. The movie is an international thriller about an ex-hacker (Hemsworth), who is furloughed from his prison sentence in exchange for helping a cadre of international Feds chase down and capture an elusive cyber criminal. "Blackhat" open on January 22nd and the film’s first poster is below.
Also just-released are the U.K. and U.S. posters for the sci-fi movie "Ex Machina." It’s the directorial debut of screenwriter Alex Garland best known for "28 Days Later," "Sunshine," and "Dredd." Garland’s got himself a good cast too. Apart from his lead, the talented Alicia Vikander—who’s not yet a star, but no doubt will be in a few years— the movie has two fine actors picked for J.J. Abrams‘ next "Star Wars" film, Oscar Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson.
The movie is futuristic psychological thriller where a 24 year old coder at the world’s largest internet company (Gleeson), wins a competition to spend a week at a retreat belonging to the company’s reclusive CEO, Nathan (Isaac). But when he arrives he finds that he will have to participate in a experiment with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot woman (Vikander).
Universal is set to release "Ex Machina” on January 23, 2015 in the U.K. and A24 films will bring it stateside on April 10, 2015. The first trailer arrives tomorrow.
Lastly, Sony Pictures Classics has released the final poster for the dramatic thriller “Foxcatcher” starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. Directed by Bennett Miller ("Capote," “Moneyball”) “Foxcatcher” is based on true events and tells the dark and chilling story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers.
The movie also co-stars Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller and Anthony Michael Hall and it’s certainly one of the best movies of the year (read our review here). It’s right around the corner too — “Foxcatcher” arrives in theaters on November 14th.
