24 Upcoming Films Featuring Your Favorites (The UK Contingent)

By Cindy Davis | Lists | January 28, 2013 |

By Cindy Davis | Lists | January 28, 2013 |

Curious what your favorite across-the-ponders are up to? You need wonder no more.

Alan Rickman:

CBGB

Directed by Randall Miller (Bottle Shock, Nobel Son), also starring Johnny Galecki, Malin Ã…kerman, Rupert Grint, Freddy Rodríguez. Rickman plays—Hilly Kristal—musician and owner of the iconic New York club where bands like The Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith and Talking Heads began their careers. In post-production, 2013.

The Butler

Directed by Lee Daniels, also starring Forest Whitaker, Alex Pettyfer, John Cusack, Liev Schreiber, James Marsden, Terrence Howard, Jane Fonda, Melissa Leo, Minka Kelly, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Robin Williams. Based on the life story of Eugene Allen, a White House butler who served eight presidents; Rickman plays Ronald Reagan. In post-production, 2013.

Kate Winslet:

Labor Day

Directed by Jason Reitman, also starring Josh Brolin, Tobey Maguire, Clark Gregg and James Van Der Beek. Based on the Joyce Maynard novel, Winslet plays single mother Adele, out shopping with her son when they come upon a bleeding man (Brolin) who needs help. Despite her misgivings Adele gives the man a ride. Should have listened to that inner voice, because he’s an escaped convict trying to evade the police. In post-production, 2013.

A Little Chaos

Directed by Alan Rickman, also starring Matthias Schoenaerts. Louis XIV commissions a landscaped fountain at Versailles; competing gardeners get flowery and fall in love. In pre-production, 2014.

Divergent

Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless), also starring Shailene Woodley. Based on the Veronica Roth young adult novel, set in—what else—the dystopian future, where the world is broken into factions. When teens reach their 16th birthday, they must decide which faction to join; though some are “divergent.” Winslet’s role has not yet been revealed.

Ewan McGregor:

Jack the Giant Slayer

Directed by Bryan Singer, also starring Nicholas Hoult, Bill Nighy, Ian McShane and Stanley Tucci. Based on the fairy tale, this live action fantasy film has Jack (Hoult) fighting more than one legendary giant to save a princess and a kingdom. McGregor plays leader of the king’s guard. March 1, 2013.

August: Osage County

Directed by John Wells (The Company Men), also starring Meryl Streep, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shepard, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale and Julia Roberts. An ensemble drama based on the Tracy Letts play. Drinking, drugs and suicide abound…can’t wait? In post-production, 2013.

Our Kind of Traitor

Directed by Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders), based on the John le Carré novel, a young couple is drawn into helping a Russian criminal defect. In pre-production, 2014.

Son of a Gun

Directed and written by Julius Avery (his first feature), this heist thriller features McGregor as a thief who is “Australia’s public enemy number 1.” The story will follow the relationship between the master and his young protege. In pre-production, 2014.

Born to Be King

Directed by Peter Capaldi (Strictly Sinatra), also starring Max Meggs and Kate Hudson. Comedy that finds a movie extra mistaken for the movie star he so closely resembles…and the film’s star (Hudson) falling for him. In pre-production, 2014.

Idris Elba:

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl), also starring Naomie Harris and Mark Elderkin. Elba plays the South African President in this adaptation of Mandela’s biography. In post-production, 2013 release.

They Die by Dawn

Directed by Jeymes Samuel (feature debut), also starring Rosario Dawson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Giancarlo Esposito, Erykah Badu and Isaiah Washington. Four outlaws agree to a showdown. In post-production, 2013.

Pacific Rim

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, also starring Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, and Rinko Kikuchi. Del Toro’s “Beautiful poem to giant monsters,” who do battle against giant robots. July 12, 2013.

Thor: The Dark World

Directed by Alan Taylor (Kill the Poor, The Emperor’s New Clothes), also starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd and Natalie Portman. Thor faces Malekith the Accursed. November 8, 2013.

No Good Deed

Directed by Sam Miller (Among Giants, Elephant Juice), also starring Taraji P. Henson and Mark Rhino Smith. This “old school thriller” has Elba breaking out of jail, terrorizing people and kidnapping a former DA…and her children. In post-production, 2014.

Michael Fassbender:

Untitled Terrence Malick Project

Also starring Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, Benicio Del Toro, Holly Hunter, Bérénice Marlohe. Malick’s tale of obsession and betrayal is set in Austin, TX. Four people are involved in two triangles—you do the math. That’s a whole lotta pretty right there. July 4, 2013.

Twelve Years a Slave

Directed by Steve McQueen, also starring Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti and Quvenzhané Wallis. Set in New York in the 1800s, the true story of Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor), a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery. Based on Northrup’s memoir. In post-production, 2013.

Frank

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (What Richard Did, Adam and Paul, Garage), also starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Domhnall Gleeson, and Scoot McNairy. Fassbender leads an “eccentric pop band,” while wearing a ridiculous mask. WHY? Anyway, I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but couldn’t someone else have his face covered up with a giant head? Filming, 2013.

Jane Got a Gun

Directed by Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin, Morvern Callar), also starring Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton. Jane (Portman) must defend her home/farm against a vicious gang looking to finish killing her husband (Edgerton) (who made it home with eight bullets in his back). Naturally, Jane calls her former lover (Fassbender), because if they’re all going to die, she may as well be surrounded by hot men? I hope there’s no more kissing…or head covering. In pre-production, 2013.

James McAvoy:

Trance

Directed by Danny Boyle, also starring Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel. An art heist gone wrong, hypnotherapy, bad guys and a love triangle. UK Release March 27, 2013.

Welcome to the Punch

Directed by Eran Creevy (Shifty), also starring Mark Strong, David Morrissey and Andrea Riseborough. Another heist gone wrong; this time McAvoy is the detective trying to catch a man he’s always been after (Strong). March 15, 2013.

Filth

Directed by Jon S. Baird (Cass), also starring Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Imogen Poots, Alan Cumming and Joanne Froggatt. Based on the novel (and script co-written) by Irvine Welsh, McAvoy plays drug-addicted, bipolar detective Bruce Robertson. Welsh says of McAvoy, “He is absolutely amazing. It’s just one of the greatest acting performances I have ever seen…I think he’s better than Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. He is absolutely electric and is right into the character. It’s a fantastic emotional performance.” In post-production, 2013.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: His and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers

Directed by Ned Benson (feature debut), also starring Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Ciarn Hinds, William Hurt, Bill Hader. Two films of a relationship told from each person’s perspective. In post-production, 2013.

Double Fassbender—McAvoy Whammy!

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Directed by Bryan Singer, also starring Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, Rose Byrne, January Jones and James Marsden. The saga continues…X-Men time traveling to change an historical event. In pre-production, July 18, 2014.

Cindy Davis, (Twitter) is dreaming a little dream of these…