It’s been said before, but these days it truly appears Hollywood has run out of original ideas.
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Two new trailers came out recently that seem to say we are in a never ending succession of movie franchises. Nevertheless, these trailers blew up the Internet and the films are sure to be blockbusters once released later this year.
The first was for the newest film in the Star Wars franchise. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will follow a group of resistance fighters who unite for a daring mission to steal the plans to the dreaded Death Star (the story is meant to take place before Star Wars: A New Hope). Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) is introduced in the trailer as Jyn Erso, a rebel who has been on her own since the age of 15 and seems to know her way around a blaster. Take a look (the trailer, by the way, got nearly 31 million views on YouTube in just six days):
Diego Luna and Forest Whitaker also star in the movie, set for release on December 16. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Disney’s plans for the Star Wars world. Episode VIII will grace movie screens in December 2017 and there will be other stand-alone films which, like Rogue One, will be part of the so-called Star Wars Anthology Series. Got it?
Of course, it’s not just Harry Potter and Star Wars churning out new franchise films and spinoffs. As I was putting this post together, James Cameron announced he is making FOUR sequels to 2009’sAvatar. Avatar 2 will hit theaters in late 2018. A new Captain America movie is coming out next month. Marvel is also working on Guardians of the Galaxy 2. And don’t leave out DC Comics. It was just revealed that Ben Affleck will work on a standalone Batman movie after starring in the monstrousBatman v Superman. DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. have at least 10 other superhero movies planned, including features for Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Aquaman. Disney has Finding Doryset for release this summer and Frozen 2 is in the pipes. And The Fast and the Furious franchise is making film #150. I tease – but seriously Fast 8 is coming your way next year with more to follow. I could go on and on and on.
This article was originally published on Culture Sonar.