The Emoji Movie
UK Release Date: August 4th
What is it: The title pretty much tells you, everything you need to know – it’s a movie, about emojis.
Why it might be good: At best it could end up being a brilliant piece of meta-cinema like The LEGO Movie, that is vivid, imaginative, and intelligent. Unfortunately, that seems highly unlikely, a more realistic hope is that it is closer to last year’s The Angry Bird Movie, which, while flawed was a fairly passable piece of cinema.
Why it might be bad: Well, it’s a movie based around emojis. Nothing about the movie looks promising so far and it stands a realistic chance of being one of the worst movies of the summer – even the year. It’s late release in the summer though does mean it stands a reasonable chance of having a run at the box office, and it will no doubt appeal to children everywhere.
Annabelle: Creation
UK Release Date: August 11th
What is it: A prequel to 2015’s Annabelle movie, which was a prequel to 2013’s The Conjuring.
Why it might be good: The Conjuring 2, released last year, proved to be one of the best horror sequels in recent memory and the franchise still clearly has plenty of fuel left in the tank. Annabelle: Creation looks set to add to more the mythos of the franchise and will hopefully deliver a solid amount of innovative scares.
Why it might be bad: Well, Annabelle sucked, basically. While The Conjuring franchise has delivered two very good horror movies, the Annabelle focused prequel just felt like a cheap cash in, and there is every chance that this one will be exactly the same. James Wan is the man behind the success of the franchise, and his absence from the director’s chair may cost the movie.
The Dark Tower
UK Release Date: August 18th
What is it: A big screen of adaptation of Stephen King’s fantasy epic Dark Tower novels, with Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba in lead roles.
Why it might be good: If you look up the word charismatic in a pictorial dictionary, there is a reasonable chance pictures of both Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba will be there.
The two men both radiate personality and having them both on the project could really elevate this project. The duo tend to have a chemistry with whoever they are on-screen with and if they are great here, and the adaptation is loyal enough to please its fanbase, Sony could have a huge hit on their hands here.
Why it might be bad: Firstly, there is the diehard fanbase. The Dark Tower series of novels has a loyal following that will either make this project sink or swim.
Secondly, we have not seen anything from the movie yet. With a little over three months until its release date, you’d have thought we would have seen a trailer by now, yet, outside of some footage shown at CinemaCon, nobody has seen a thing. The fact that it shifted its release date from February to August also doesn’t spell good things for the film.
What films are you most excited for this summer? Let us know in the comments, and let Liam know on Twitter, here- @liamhoofe
Originally published April 22, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
