DreamWorks Animation’s movie have been very variable, but How To Train Your Dragon was certainly one of the best. It was also a decent sized hit, so it’s not surprising the sequel-loving company has come up with a sequel, which we can get a taste of thanks to a new teaser trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘The thrilling second chapter of the epic How To Train Your Dragon trilogy brings back the fantastical world of Hiccup and Toothless five years later. While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace.’

The film is currently due out June 20th, 2014.

One of the movies that will be hoping to be in the Oscar race next year is Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Now the first teaser for the movie has been released, with Idris Elba getting very literal as he actually on a long walk in the middle of nowhere. There are also a couple of posters you can see below.

Elba plays Nelson Mandela, with Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela. The epic motion picture spans Mandela’s extraordinary life, from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected President of South Africa.

It’s currently due out January 2014.

There’s been a lot on interest recently in the fact Hollywood has been trying to find ways to make more money in China. It’s now the second biggest market in the world but presents particular difficulties due to limits on the number of foreign movies that are allowed to be released (and severe limits on how much studios can make from those releases).

The LA Times has been looking at how Wally Pfister’s directorial debut, Transcendence, has been working in China, and has also managed to get some Chinese funding, which may allow it to be classed as a Chinese co-production (and therefore potentially a lot more profitable in that country).

It’s also allowed us to get our first look at the Johnny Depp movie with a behind-the-scenes image (above), as well as a features and Chinese teaser poster. The Chris Nolan produced film is shrouded in mystery, but in the article, producer Dan Mintz says, “Without giving away too much, Transcendence is about that moment when human consciousness and the insanely fast rise of computing power collide. It pulls from the idea of singularity to tell a truly meaningful story that is more ‘science reality’ than science fiction. This is something that is likely to happen in our lifetimes and that makes it a story everyone can get into.”

Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Mara, and Paul Bettany co-star. It’s due to hit cinemas April 2014.

It looks like Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson are hoping to dust off their Oscar outfits with nominations for Saving Mr. Banks, about Walt Disney’s difficulties getting Mary Poppins author PL Travers to allow him to make a film version.

The film follows how, before signing away the book’s rights, Mary Poppins author PL Travers’ demands for contractual script and character control circumvent not only Disney’s vision for the film adaptation, but also those of the creative team of screenwriter Don DaGradi and sibling composers Richard and Robert Sherman.

When Travers travels from London to Hollywood in 1961 to finally discuss Disney’s desire to bring her beloved character to the motion picture screen (a quest he began in the 1940s as a promise to his two daughters), Disney meets a prim, uncompromising sexagenarian not only suspect of the impresario’s concept for the film, but a woman struggling with her own past. During her stay in California, Travers’ reflects back on her childhood in 1906 Australia, a trying time for her family which not only moulded her aspirations to write, but also inspired the characters in her 1934 book.

The film is due for an Oscar-bait December 2013 release.

Christian Bale’s first post-Batman movie is Out Of The Furnace, which sees him getting his thriller on opposite Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Willem Dafoe and Forest Whitaker. Now we can get a good taste of the film with a trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Russell (Christian Bale) and his younger brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) live in the economically-depressed Rust Belt, and have always dreamed of escaping and finding better lives. But when a cruel twist of fate lands Russell in prison, his brother is lured into one of the most violent and ruthless crime rings in the Northeast – a mistake that will almost cost him everything. Once released, Russell must choose between his own freedom, or risk it all to seek justice for his brother.’

A December US release is set.

 

As we were promised, the first trailer for Spike Lee’s version of Oldboy has been released, which partially seems to be about trying to assuage fans of Park Chan-Wook’s original that this will be its own beast, while keeping the best bits of the original. To be honest, I don’t think it’s gonna help, as those who love Wook’s Oldboy, really love it and pretty much see Lee’s film as sacrilege, whatever it turns out to be like.

It does look like it might be okay though.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘OLDBOY is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley, OLDBOY was directed by Spike Lee, from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, The Cell, Thor). The film was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.’

The film will hit cinemas this autumn.